Queen of Hearts
by Neil Riebe
Summary: Aliens are on their way to "harvest" the human race and the Doctor has put the fate of the world in Miki Saegusa's hands, something she's not up for as she struggles with the loss of Godzilla.
1. Chapter 1

Queen of Hearts

By Neil Riebe

Film appearances of the characters:

Miki Saegusa….Godzilla vs Biollante (1989) through Godzilla vs Destoryah (1995)

Azusa Gojo…Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1993)

Kazuma Aoki…...Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1993)

Professor Omae…Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1993)

Meru Ozawa…. Godzilla vs Destoryah (1995)

Part1

"You can't leave," Azusa said. She, G-Force engineer Aoki, and Professor Omae hung outside Miki's office door, pleading with her to withdraw her resignation as the head of the Dinosaur Research Team.

Most of Miki's stuff had already been boxed and loaded aboard the supply ship which was waiting off the coast of the island. Right now Miki Saegusa was at the computer jotting down the pass codes to the protected files.

"I would stay but Godzilla Junior reminds me of Godzilla and…" Miki's voice trailed off before she became misty-eyed with grief. Godzilla's death had left her heart broken. She kicked herself for getting worked up over an animal, but she couldn't help it. Her feelings interfered with her performance, at least in her opinion. Therefore, she decided going home would be in everyone's best interest, although her friends didn't agree. So she said, "Godzilla was my dinosaur. Godzilla Junior is yours. You cared for him when he was an infant."

"He sees you as much as a part of his family as any of us," Azusa stated firmly, "more so because of your telepathy. You understand how he thinks and feels better than anyone."

"I've recorded every detail of my time with him in my log book." Miki patted the cover of her log. "A custodian could pick up where I left off."

"I wish one of them would," Azusa grumbled. She folded her arms and looked away.

Miki pursed her lips in dismay. "Ms. Ozawa is well suited to fill my role. She is a paleontologist and a telepath, a very good one."

"Junior doesn't like her!" Azusa said. Flushed with emotion, she did sound like Junior's mom, looking only for the best for her son.

"I don't even like her," Aoki added, which was saying something. He was an incorrigible girl chaser and Ms. Meru Ozawa was a beautiful woman.

A piping roar shook the room. Miki and her friends jumped at the sudden jolt of noise. They gathered at the window facing toward the jungle bordering the research base. A gigantic ankylosaur reared its head above the treetops and growled at Godzilla Junior, who was standing waist-deep in the foliage. Junior cocked his head to the side, unsure of what to make of the creature.

Professor Omae called the beast "Anguirus". Aoki suggested the professor should call him "Gigantis, Destroyer of the Living" to make the animal seem more exciting, but Omae nixed the idea. He didn't find Kazuma's humor funny.

Anguirus had surprised the world. Just when everyone thought Godzilla Junior was the last dinosaur Anguirus popped up on Kwajalein, which was within swimming distance of Lagos, Godzilla's home island. Did Anguirus originate from Lagos? Possibly. Where one dinosaur roamed there could be more. What concerned scientists was Anguirus's armament. For protection against predators, a typical ankylosaurus had an armored carapace with spikes running along the flanks. Anguirus had spikes covering his entire back. Plus he had a crown of spikes atop his head and a nose horn. What kind of predators did he have to fight?

Fortunately, ankylosaurs were vegetarians. The Dinosaur Research Team didn't need to worry about Anguirus getting a hankering for human meat. As for Godzilla Junior, he had adapted to an omnivorous diet under Azusa's care. However, he was a godzillasaur and godzillasaurs by nature were carnivores. The anklyosaur seemed to be aware of this fact and let out another ear-ripping roar to drive him away.

"This is why we need you," Professor Omae said to Miki. "The mission of our team is to tame these animals so we can coexist with them. For that we need a telepath who is gentle. Ms. Ozawa wears her G-Force beret too proudly. She will expect discipline. Obedience. You can't act that way toward these animals. What it comes down to," Professor Omae said gently, "is that you create harmony. Yes, Ms. Ozawa is qualified, but she does not foster the warmth you do."

The professor's words touched Miki. For their sake she wanted to stay. Leaving will be a good thing, she told herself. Even if you don't feel it is, it is!

She nodded in thanks. "I chose Meru as my successor. Give her a chance. She wants to be friends. It's just that some people have a harder time than others in getting along, which requires us to take an extra step to make that happen. You will take the extra step, won't you?" she said to Professor Omae.

The professor, being the eldest, was the most mature. He couldn't argue. He nodded in agreement.

Miki turned to the engineer. "Aoki?"

Aoki eyed Omae. He didn't want to be in disagreement with an elder. He nodded.

Then Miki turned to Azusa. "Well?"

Azusa frowned at her fellow team members. She nodded, not wanting to stand out as the one person who was being difficult

Miki thanked them and smiled. "A positive attitude will go a long way in smoothing the rough edges. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish getting ready to go."

They promised to keep in touch by email. Azusa, Kazuma, and the professor filed out of her office.

Shortly, Meru Ozawa stepped in gushing with excitement. She set her brief case on the desk and plopped her G-Force beret atop the case. "Saegusa-san, how are you?"

"Fine. And you, Ms. Ozawa?"

"Please, keep calling me Meru. Just because I'm getting your post doesn't mean we have to be formal with each other." Miki couldn't help feeling territorial after Ms. Ozawa had put her things on her desk. Meru took Miki's hands into hers. "I know everyone is pressuring you to stay. So let me be the first to say going back to the Psionic Center is the right thing for you. Working with psychic children is your first calling."

"Thank you," Miki nodded. "And dinosaurs are your first calling. I am confident you will make a fine team leader."

Meru beamed with pride.

"Here are your pass codes." Miki slid the notepad with the hand-written codes toward her.

"Ooo!" Meru cooed as she grabbed the pad. Miki evacuated her seat before Meru plopped on her lap. Ms. Ozawa was eager to take over as head of the team.

"Well, I'll be in my room packing if you need me." Miki paused before stepping out in case Meru wanted to wish her well.

"Uh-huh," was all her replacement said. She was wrapped up in keying in the codes.

Miki wished Meru would offer a few parting words. She had invested over seven years of her life with giant monsters. Leaving the friends she had made over those years, never mind leaving the livelihood she had become accustomed to, was not easy. Besides, Miki was the one who recommended Meru for the promotion!

Well, Meru lived in Meru's own world.

Miki turned to leave.

"Wait!" Meru called.

"Yes?" Miki turned back.

"You forgot this." Meru handed Miki her wooden name plaque and set hers, a shiny, gold-plated one, in its place. She adjusted it so it was square with the right-hand corner of the desk. "Ah, perfect!"

Miki made the effort to feel happy for her. After all, this was her big day.

"Before you go," Meru took a moment to be sincere, "I want to say I appreciate your being a good sport. This change will be good for both of us. It will help ease the tension."

They locked eyes. They were rivals. There was no denying it. Meru thought this post should've been hers from the start and Miki's stepping aside was the sensible thing to do. It was also gracious of her. Meru's hardened stare softened. "Take care."

"You, too." Miki felt better. She acknowledged Ms. Ozawa with a nod and headed to her room. The packing boxes were ready, lined up across the floor.

Before packing, Miki looked at her room one last time, to give her old life a few more moments of breath before she packed it into boxes. Her heart became heavy.

Then she took a deep breath and reigned in the onrush of sentiment.

Her things weren't going into the trash. They were going with her back to Japan. Sure, most of them would end up in storage. She might visit them from time to time. Pull them out to revisit old memories.

Oh, who was she kidding? Once she resumed her work at the Psionic Center, she would forget about this stuff.

Rolling up her sleeves, she got to work. She unplugged the lamp on her night stand, wound the cord around the lamp's base and set it on its side in an empty box. Next she took the pen that was beside the lamp and put it with the others in her desk drawer.

Most of the clutter in the drawer should be tossed. She started sorting and found a playing card of the Queen of Hearts. Miki was surprised she still had it.

She remembered when she got it. It was a sweaty day in July. She was out shopping with her mom when they bumped into the neighbor lady. Mom and the other woman talked and talked. Miki became bored.

She spotted a man, a foreigner in a blue pin-striped suit and dirty tennis shoes. A suit and tennis shoes—an odd combination. He sat at a table outside a Starbuck's playing solitaire. A glass of iced coffee waited patiently at his elbow while the ice cubes continued to shrink in the sunlight.

She became entranced by his concentration on the cards. Her psychic ability was already acute and she knew which cards he should flip over and which ones he shouldn't. When he reached for the wrong one she drew in her breath. When he reached for the correct one she nodded yes, that one!

Yet, he never committed to flipping any of the cards. Finally he spoke to her.

"I bet you know which card I should pick," he said.

She pointed to the correct one.

He looked up at her. His eyes looked deep into hers. His eyes were like... like Mothra's fairies'. Eyes that had witnessed the passing of millennia. They experienced joy and suffered tragedy. They were eyes that had seen the turn of the universe.

Then he became disarmingly boyish, like some star-struck otaku. "Why, you're Miki Saegusa! Not just any Miki Saegusa, but the proverbial ONE and ONLY Miki Saegusa. Wow! Imagine little ol' me meeting someone like you."

"How did you know my name?" she asked defensively.

"How did I know your name?" The man gaped at her. "How I could I not know your name? You're in all the headlines."

"I'm not in any headlines."

"Well—Pfft!—not now! You're only what? Thirteen?"

"Fourteen."

"Exactly. Fourteen. But you wait. In a couple years—wow!"

The man spoke Japanese flawlessly, although with a bit of a British accent. Yet, he wasn't from the UK. She sensed something different about him and he sensed she was sensing something different about him.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "You're good. You can tell I'm not from around here. I mean," he spread his hand toward their surroundings, "not just from Japan, but from here."

He was being discreet so as not to attract attention, but when he said "here" she knew he meant he was not from Earth.

"Listen," he motioned for her to come closer. "This gift you have," he tapped his temple to indicate her psychic ability, "is wonderful but it doesn't compare to the gift you have here," he tapped his chest. "You have a heart, bigger than both of mine put together. Now, I want you to pay attention to what it has to say." He squeezed her hands. "All right? Will you do that for me? It's important. Trust me on this."

Miki nodded so he'd let go.

"All right." He released her hands. "Take this." He gave her the Queen of Hearts. "It'll help you remember who you are."

She took the card, looked at it then at him. "If you know so much about me, tell me about my future. Like, who's going to be my boyfriend?"

He bit his lower lip and bobbed his head side to side, weighing what he should say. "I'll give you a hint." His hands sorted through the deck and pulled out the Ace of Spades. He slid it across the table toward her.

"Ace of Spades, that's the death card," Miki said.

"Yeah, you may want to keep that in mind."

Miki frowned at him. "Are you saying my future boyfriend is going to be the bringer of death or he's going to die?"

"Both." The man gathered his cards, leaving her with the Queen of Hearts. "Oh, one more thing, you work well with animals." He gave her a knowing wink and walked off into the crowd.

Her mother came up to her, ready to continue shopping. "Who were you talking to?" she asked.

Miki shrugged. She tried to read him telepathically but she lost sight of him among the other pedestrians. "I think he's some sort of doctor."

Miki never saw the man again. She had forgotten about him until she found this card. Looking back, her encounter reminded her of stories of people who claim to have met their guardian angel.

"Follow your heart," he had said.

I am following my heart, she assured herself. She enjoyed working with children. She was going back to Japan.

Yet she felt guilty.

Normally she would figure out why but this time she refused.

Miki crumpled the card and tossed it into the waste basket.

#

Twenty-six light years from Earth, Gigan was honing his fighting skills by destroying starships. He waited outside the jump gate to the Tabit solar system. The instant a ship jumped through the gate—bam!—he smashed it with one of his hooked hands.

So far it had been a warm up exercise. The ships were merchant vessels. When they failed to reach their port of call, Tabit Sector Security dispatched patrol craft and an Eradicator class destroyer.

Gigan clanged his hooks and held them at the ready. He monitored their radio transmissions as they closed in.

"Look at the size of that thing! Is it a creature or a ship?"

"Doesn't matter. It's a rogue. Follow procedure."

They tried contacting him. "Tabit security to rogue, surrender at once. Do you copy? Surrender at once."

Gigan did not respond. He waited for the fun to begin.

"Your silence will be regarded as resistance. Respond or we will open fire."

Gigan replied by swooping through their ranks. The three-man patrol ships scattered. They called him a fool. "He's big but he has no hope of outmaneuvering us!" Gigan proved them wrong. He batted them out of the stars.

The destroyer wisely kept its distance and fired its twin turbo lasers no sooner Gigan had destroyed the last patrol ship. He blocked the beams with his hooked hands. The metal hands turned from silver to orange, to red, to white hot as the destroyer exhausted its energy reserves in trying to destroy him.

When the lasers let up, Gigan lowered his hooks and counter-fired. The laser cannon embedded in his visor cleaved the ship in two. He regarded the resulting explosion with satisfaction.

It was a fine workout.

Then an Orion dreadnaught came barreling out of the jump gate. Its massive size blocked out Tabit's starlight and cast a black shadow over Gigan. This was a rare moment when he found himself dwarfed in size.

This time his opponent did not give him a chance to surrender. Scores of fighters poured out of the docking bay in the belly of the ship. They threatened to swarm him. For every fighter he destroyed, dozens of others would be shooting at him.

Gigan chose to take the fight to the enemy. He flew straight into the yawning docking bay, smashed his way through the various decks and burst out the top of the ship. He scanned and located the anti-matter power core and fired his laser. The beam sliced through the thick armor and hit its mark. The entire ship went super nova. An expanding ball of super-heated gas enveloped the fighters and swept away the wreckage of the other ships. Only Gigan remained to bear witness of the battle.

His creators from the M Space-Hunter Nebula contacted him via a FTL transmission.

Gigan transmitted his acknowledgement. He was once a giant winged animal. His makers had turned him into a cyborg with hooks for hands and a buzz saw in his torso. The red visor covering his eyes sported a variety of scanners and a powerful laser weapon. He had been designed to slice, chop, and crush anything in his path. And to be sure he operated at peak efficiency the pleasure centers of his brain had been hotwired to be stimulated by acts of violence. The more he destroyed, the happier he became.

"Observe this planet."

His makers transmitted data on a terrestrial world to his memory core. Its image appeared on the red visor's HUD. According to the data the planet had oceans of liquid water and an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, much like his makers' homeworld. Spectrometer readings also showed gases from industrial waste. So the planet was inhabited.

"We have drawn plans for colonization," his makers said. "However, the people of the planet Telos are also interested in this location. But they say we can have the planet. They want the population. Our negotiators have worked out an alliance. We may have the planet provided you help them harvest the inhabitants. Details of their attack plans will be provided once you arrive at the coordinates we have uploaded to your memory core. Your part is simple. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."

Those last three words were all Gigan needed to hear. He immediately set course for the new world.

#

Godzilla Junior resembled his adoptive father, a mountain of muscle with a majestic array of dorsal spines. His footsteps reverberated like thunder and his roar shook the leaves out of the trees. Yet, psychologically he was a juvenile godzillasaurus. Radiation had accelerated his growth. Even though he looked imposing he was something of a teenager in a man's body.

He would rather get along with Anguirus, but the grumpy ankylosaur wanted nothing to do with him.

Anguirus bit the tops off a couple trees, scattering a flock of birds. The branches snapped loudly between his teeth. After he swallowed, he decided he wanted to eat the trees by Godzilla Junior and butted Junior out of the way with his nose horn.

Junior hissed, but he got out of the way. It was as if Anguirus was trying to provoke a fight.

Godzilla Junior understood the meaning of friendship through his time with the humans. While he was in his egg, Azusa's voice was the first person he heard. He bonded with her as his mother. It did not matter that she was not a godzillasaur. She fed him and took care of him. He grew to like her friends, Aoki and Professor Omae. They liked him, too. Well, Aoki seemed disappointed with him at first because he didn't hatch out of his egg as a pteranodon. In time they warmed up to each other.

Then there was the human who could speak to his mind, Miki Saegusa. She helped him understand the concept of friendship. She taught him about names so when he saw Azusa he didn't think of her as just "mother" but as "Azusa-mother", or just Azusa. Aoki was no longer "possible mate for Azusa" and Professor Omae was no longer "older human with less hair on head."

He tried to speak Azusa's name, after all names had sounds. He heard the humans use them. But when he did, her name came out as "Ahhh-rrrrrr-ahh!" Miki explained he needed lips to speak. "But I'll let Azusa know you spoke her name," she had said in his thoughts.

Azusa shined with delight when Miki told her. That made Godzilla Junior feel warm inside. He liked the warm feeling that friendship gives. It made one feel safe and special, and it allowed creatures of different species to group together. So he saw nothing unnatural about being friends with Anguirus.

There was one problem Junior recognized. His species were carnivorous. Anguirus was an herbivore. That made them natural enemies.

To show he didn't need meat, Godzilla Junior bit the top off a tree.

Anguirus's eyes bugged wide open. He charged, raking Godzilla Junior with his claws.

Godzilla Junior spat out the branches and roared at Anguirus to back off.

Anguirus stomped back to his spot in the jungle. He glared in warning to not eat any foliage. It was his. All of it.

Godzilla Junior let out a raspy sigh.

Then he saw Azusa, Miki, Aoki, and the professor down at the docks. Miki boarded a small boat. Boats came to the shore but they didn't come back. Were they leaving him?

No, only Miki boarded the boat. The others remained on the dock. They waved to Miki. He knew what that gesture meant. Miki was leaving.

He called out to her in a loud roar.

She turned and waved to him, too.

So it was true. She was leaving.

But she couldn't leave! The size difference between himself and his mother had become so great the only way he could stay in touch with her was through Miki's telepathy.

Upset, he roared and stormed onto the base. The siren blared. The workers scrambled for the shelter.

Azusa motioned with her hands and cried out to him to go back. He could barely hear her tiny voice over the siren, which only fortified his resolve. Miki can't leave or he would never be able to speak with his mother again.

Meru Ozawa stepped out of the main office building with a megaphone. The laborers ran passed her while she stood her ground. She drew her sidearm, fired three angry shots into the air, and yelled, "Junior! Stop! You are being bad."

Godzilla Junior stopped and growled at Meru.

"Junior, behave."

Godzilla Junior braced himself for a telepathic fight.

"Oh, you don't want to go there, Junior!"

Azusa ran up to Meru. "Don't treat him like that. You'll make him angry."

"I got this covered," Meru replied curtly and put the megaphone back up to her lips. "Junior, get back!" She thrust her hand toward him and gave him a telepathic push.

Junior's head snapped back. His mind felt as though it had been swept up in a sudden gust of wind, his thoughts scattered like dust. He shook his head to regain his senses. Her next push would be worse if he didn't obey and fighting would only distress his mother. He let out a plaintive roar to let the humans know he wasn't happy and lumbered back into the jungle.

"Good boy," Meru called out to him over the megaphone.

Professor Omae folded his arms and gave Miki a reproving look. He didn't need to say anything. Meru's behavior made his point.

"You will be missed," Aoki said to soften the tension between the professor and the young psychic.

"Thank you." Miki smiled, grateful he chose not to show his disappointment with her as the professor did.

The boat revved up and took her out to the supply ship for the trip back to Japan.

Junior watched from the jungle with longing in his eyes, wishing she would come back.

Anguirus snorted in contempt.

Junior could tell the bristly ankylosaur thought he should've put up more of a fight. His own natural instinct told him the same thing. He should've fought the human. If he had he might have kept Miki from leaving.

#

The research base was located on an unnamed island in the Marshall Islands. In fact this was the same island where Anguirus had been found. The United Nations Godzilla Countermeasure Center (aka G-Force) had Meru and Miki telepathically guide Godzilla Junior to this island thereby putting all their dinosaurs into one basket.

Anguirus turned hostile at this intrusion into his territory. Meru acted as security, using her psychic power to repel him, which freed Miki to assist in research and manage administrative duties. With Miki gone, G-Force expressed concern on whether Meru could shoulder the responsibility intended for two psychics.

She assured her superiors she could. Besides, she didn't want a partner. Being the sole psychic enhanced her importance.

With her bullhorn in hand she shooed the monsters away from the base. "The excitement is over, boys. Go back into the jungle."

Godzilla Junior lowered his head, despondent over the loss of Miki, and lumbered deeper into the jungle.

Anguirus lay down and dared her to try to make him budge.

The thirty-thousand ton monster and the ninety-eight pound young woman narrowed their gazes at each other.

Meru smirked. _You want to fight?_ She challenged him telepathically.

_You are smaller than my paw_, Anguirus replied in his thoughts._ I can crush you._

_Fine. You asked for this._ Meru closed her eyes in concentration. In the physical plane she amounted to a rodent in comparison to Anguirus, but on the psychic plane size or weight did not come into play. Only the strength of one's will mattered and Meru brought a lot of muscle to the field. Like a grappler she locked her will with his and jockeyed for leverage.

Anguirus countered by focusing on his mass. I am big. She is small. I cannot be moved. His simple thoughts became a brick wall. Meru pushed. She pounded. She rammed her will against it. Nothing. Anguirus could not be shaken from his belief that his size trumped her superior intellect. In essence he was beating her by being obtuse.

Meru broke contact and rubbed her throbbing temples.

_Weakling_, Anguirus sniffed.

Attack the nerve centers was the next step. Inflict pain. But he would be expecting that. She came up with a new tactic.

_Ready for round 2?_

A low growl purred in Anguirus's throat. He was ready.

Meru concentrated. This time she gave him visions of the succulent flora down by the lagoon on the other side of the island. Dew dripping from the leaves... The tangy snap of bark between the teeth... The splash of sweetness on the tongue from the tropical fruit…

Anguirus's stomach rumbled. He got up and wandered off toward the lagoon none the wiser his opponent had implanted those impressions in his mind.

_Wait!_ She pleaded with him telepathically._ Don't you want to fight? Come back!_

The ankylosaur ignored her.

Meru chuckled. "Anguirus, I can outwit you anywhere, at any time."

#

Later in the evening, Azusa stopped by Meru's office.

"May we talk?" Azusa asked.

"Sure." Meru invited her to take a seat in front of her desk.

Azusa took her seat but felt uncomfortable, as though she were a student in the principal's office. _Funny_, she thought, _I never felt this way when Miki was our team leader. I could talk to her about anything. As for you, Ms. Ozawa…_Then she thought, _uh-oh! Hope she isn't reading my mind._

Meru waited attentively with her elbows on the desk and her palms resting one atop the other. Maybe she was eavesdropping on Azusa's thoughts, maybe she wasn't. Meru didn't give any indication. She raised her brow to prod the young scientist to speak.

Azusa cleared her throat and braced herself. Her complaint might light a short fuse. "It's about the way you treat Anguirus and Godzilla Junior. You are too harsh."

"How so?"

"Your attitude is condescending. You taunt them. Intimidate them. Animals have feelings, too. You should know that better than anyone."

"And when they snarl and threaten to attack, what do you suggest I do?"

"You are our team leader. Not this island's warden."

Meru's hands clenched into fists.

Azusa stood her ground. "I cared for Junior when he was an infant. Not once did I raise my voice against him. Look how he behaves. He is gentle. As for Anguirus, yes he snarls, but who has he been in contact the most? You!"

"That's not fair. Junior was born in captivity. Anguirus sees this island as his turf. To him we're intruders."

"And it's about time you take that into consideration."

Meru leaned back and thought about Azusa's remarks.

The room became quiet. The sound of the clock ticking heightened Azusa's anxiety.

"You're right," Meru unclenched her fists. "We need to define a set of protocols for communicating with these animals. Would you help me?"

Azusa sat stunned. Had she misjudged Meru? "Of course!"

"Let's get started."

"Right now?"

"You got something else planned?"

"No! No!" Azusa was relieved Meru was taking this so well.

Meru got out Miki's logbooks and two notepads, sliding one of them to Azusa. "We'll jot down some ideas then get the professor's input in the morning. Isn't this exciting?" She smiled. "We're the first people to draft a handbook on diplomatic relations with dinosaurs!"

Azusa smiled, too, happy they will be able to work together after all.

Before they started brainstorming, they heard Anguirus and Godzilla Junior's roars echoing from the jungle.

Azusa dropped her pen. "Are they fighting?"

Then the power cut out across the entire base.

Meru grabbed a flashlight from her desk drawer.

Footsteps approached the office. Whoever was coming didn't seem to need any light.

"Who's out there?" Meru demanded.

The footsteps stopped short of the door, turned and walked away.

The power came back on. The computer on the desk beeped as it rebooted.

"Come on!" Meru handed her the flashlight as she got up. She grabbed her holster from the coat rack and belted it around her waist.

Azusa was too terrified to speak. Who was it? Terrorists? Terrorists didn't stroll in dark corridors like some stalker.

Was it a ghost?

As ridiculous as it sounded, the footsteps did made Azusa think of a ghost.

Meru aimed her gun down the hall, checking to the right then to the left.

Seeing nothing she motioned Azusa to follow.

Azusa huddled behind her gripping the flashlight like a club.

They caught up with the footsteps and stopped at the next corner.

Meru peered down the adjoining passage. Her eyes opened wide. Her lips parted in shock. She quickly regained her composure and took aim. "Who are you?"

She didn't get a reply.

"Don't move!"

Meru's gun boomed.

Azusa yelped and covered her stinging ears.

A door closed shut down the adjoining hall.

"Stay here!" Meru left her alone.

She didn't want to be by herself. What if a second set of footsteps crept up on her from another direction? She ran after Meru.

They came to the door to the room containing the base's computer mainframe. Meru wrenched the knob but it wouldn't turn. "What's going on? This door has no lock."

Azusa put her ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything.

"Get back!"

Azusa stepped away to give Meru room as she grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall and bashed the knob.

"Is someone in there?"

"Yes!" Meru bashed the knob again.

Aoki came running up from the far end of the wall with a couple dock workers carrying pry bars as weapons. "We heard a gunshot!"

"Stay back!" Azusa cried. "Someone is in the mainframe room."

"Who?"

"We don't know!"

Meru shook out her arms to relieve the strain then raised the extinguisher to resume banging on the doorknob. When she did the door creaked open.

Everyone exchanged glances.

Meru handed Aoki the extinguisher, drew her pistol, and kicked the door aside. She charged in. Before she came back out, Azusa knew what she was going to find.

Nothing.

The kaiju came storming up to the base. Godzilla Junior was bellowing. He sounded distressed.

Everyone ran outside.

Azusa turned on the flashlight and waved it to get Junior's attention. "I'm here! Everything is all right."

"He saw something," Meru said. She concentrated to read his mind.

"What?"

Meru's brow tightened. "A light…a bright light in the sky. It's as bright as Venus. But there's a problem…"

"What? What? Tell us!"

"From what I can tell Junior was looking up at the stars in that direction," she pointed toward the lagoon, "and Venus is over there." She pointed in the opposite direction. "Does anyone see anything stand out in the sky toward the lagoon?"

Azusa and everyone else searched the stars. Out in the Pacific where there were no cities, all the stars shined brilliantly. Yet…

"None of them stand out," Aoki said.

"Because what Junior saw is gone," Meru holstered her gun. "Like the metal man I shot."

"Metal…man?"

"He must have been made of metal," Meru said, "because my shot bounced right off him."


	2. Queen of Hearts Part 2

Queen of Hearts

By Neil Riebe

part 2

Miki had a good hunch her old landlord had a vacancy she could lease. She phoned Hotachi as soon as she arrived in Japan. His reaction caused her to smile when she told him her name.

"Who?" He didn't expect to hear from her again. "Oh, yes, yes, Saegusa-san. What can I do for you?"

"Do you have an open apartment?"

"Hah-hah! You tell me, Madame Psychic."

"Uh…" she intoned to make it sound as though she were concentrating, "the spirits say yes."

"And the spirits are correct! I have a room three floors above your old one. Is that OK?"

"Fine."

"When would you like to view it?"

"I just got back into the country. I'd like to sign the lease and move in this afternoon if it won't be too much of a rush."

"No, not at all." There was a heartfelt pause. "It's good to have you back," Hotachi said.

Miki was one of Hotachi's "no fuss" tenants. His favorite kind. She didn't complain. The neighbors didn't complain about her. It was as if she weren't even there. And most in important of all she was never late with the rent. She was a quiet, steady source of income.

Miki was just glad her hunch was correct. It meant she could still make use of her ESP. Her ability had been fading ever since Godzilla's death.

She met Hotachi midafternoon lugging a bag of groceries. They settled their business in his office then went up to her room.

Hotachi offered to loan her some furniture until she got settled.

"A truck will deliver my things tomorrow. I'll be fine."

"All right." Hotachi handed her the key. He paused at the door wanting to say something else, but didn't want to pry into her affairs.

Miki sensed his concern. Her return from the Marshall Islands had been abrupt.

"Well, if you need anything be sure to ask," he said and left.

Miki sighed in relief. The long trip was over! Her back ached from sitting on the train. Her feet hurt from walking from the station to the apartment. It took about as much energy to trek through one kilometer of the city as it did to cross two kilometers of open countryside, thanks to the rat's maze of narrow streets and congestion. She swept aside the blinds to take in the Tokyo skyline.

Instead of getting rejuvenated by the familiar sight she was struck cold by the dirty-white and smoky-gray colored buildings. The city seemed repulsive after waking up every morning to white sand beaches and green trees.

The truck arrived on schedule. After she got her things unpacked, Miki went out to get reacquainted with her old home town. She still felt ambivalent. It would take time to readjust. On the island it was like being on vacation 24\7. Here it was shoulder-to-shoulder businesses. Make money or go hungry.

She stopped when she came to Starbuck's. This was same Starbuck's where she met the stranger in the striped suit and dirty sneakers. Her conscience throttled her. "What are you doing back in Japan?" it said. "You're not supposed to be here."

The coffee shop had tables set outside as always. The tables weren't the same but one of them was set exactly where the stranger sat playing solitaire. His words echoed in her mind. "You have a heart, bigger than both of mine put together. Now, I want you to pay attention to what it has to say. All right? Will you do that for me? It's important. Trust me on this."

She looked at her palm, remembering how earnestly he squeezed it.

A woman approached the table with her latte, a muffin, and her dog-eared novel on a tray. "Are you sitting here?"

"No!" Miki said sharply. She quickly changed her tone so she wouldn't sound rude. "No, go ahead."

She resumed her walk.

Her conscience hounded her. "You're not doing what you're supposed to be doing."

_Shut up_, she shot back in her thoughts.

"But you're not doing it."

_Go away! I'll do what I want. That's what following your heart is about, isn't it?_

Miki's pace picked up as she argued with herself. She lost sight of what was in front of her and barged into a line of people. An elderly man with a shopping bag and a book under his arm nearly toppled over when she ran into him. He gave her a dirty look.

"I'm so sorry!" Miki apologized.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out. "Miki Saegusa, what a surprise!"

Miki had crashed into Kenichiro Terasawa's book signing outside a Kinokuniya bookstore. Terasawa called to her from his table. Copies of his new book were stacked on either side of him.

"Look!" He held up a copy for her to see. The cover was identical to the book Emi Kano had brought back from the future. Explaining who Emi was is a story unto itself. Suffice it to say she was a time traveler from the future. She and her colleagues came to Japan with a copy of a book they said he would one day write.

So the day had come. He had written his book.

Seeing Godzilla on the cover rekindled Miki's sorrow.

Terasawa had her come around the table where they could catch up on things.

"What are you doing in Tokyo?" he asked. "I heard G-Force has a research group on some island by Lagos studying Godzilla Junior. I would think you'd be their star player."

"I'm done with dinosaurs."

He gave her a befuddled look. "Why?"

"Long story. I don't mean to interrupt your book signing."

"Interrupt? This is opportunity. Now that Godzilla's dead the market is hot. Everyone wants to know who he was and what made him tick. We should co-write the next volume. Think of it! Who wouldn't want a book about Godzilla with your name in the byline? We can talk to my agent now. She's inside the store."

Write about Godzilla? If only he knew how much anguish she was bottling up.

Miki shook her head. "It's a great idea, but no. I-I'm busy. Sorry!"

Terasawa was disappointed. "At least take my book." He signed the inside cover and offered her the copy.

For the sake of being polite she accepted it.

He also made her take his card. "If you change your mind, call. OK?"

Miki nodded. "I will!"

She hurried back to her apartment, locked the door, pulled the blinds, and sat in the dark. She left the team because Godzilla Junior reminded her of Godzilla. Now Tokyo was going to be reminding her from every store front window. Godzilla achieved celebrity status through his death. To the rest of the world he had become a curiosity.

He wasn't a curiosity for her. It was the curse of being a telepath. You can achieve a level of intimacy that not even two lovers could hope to reach.

Godzilla was strong. He was bullheaded and violent yet tempered by courage and tenderness.

People liked to think humans have deeper emotions than animals, but they were so wrong. Animals were far more attuned than any human.

She first confronted Godzilla in 1989 when she was seventeen. The army needed her to divert Godzilla from coming to Japan by using psychokinesis. She stood before him atop a platform in Osaka Bay. He could've blasted her with his atomic heat ray. Instead he accepted her challenge and Godzilla trounced her in their battle of wills. She felt as though her brain had been crunched in his jaws. The fight rendered her unconscious, left her at his mercy, and he let her live.

He let her live!

She didn't understand why until later.

Miki had joined Emi and Terasawa in a trip back to Lagos Island, Godzilla's home in 1944, back before he had been mutated to gigantic size by the atom bomb. World War 2 was raging and Godzilla had been injured by naval gunfire. He had sensed her empathy for him.

When they met in 1989, he had not forgotten her sympathy for him. So he spared her when everyone else who attacked him he destroyed.

His mercy convinced her compassion could move mountains. In fact, she believed compassion would be the key to make it possible for mankind to coexist with giants like Godzilla.

She never realized how much his one kind act had touched her until he died, and he died in such an awful way. His body had absorbed too much radiation. He melted away while he roared in defiance. His death left her with something that felt unfinished…unrequited.

#

Miki returned to work at the Psionic Center the following morning. The children were thrilled to see her. Asuka Okouchi and the center's chief Mr. Hosono took her out to dinner to celebrate her return.

_See?_ She told her conscience. _I'm needed here._

Yet there was this niggling in the back of her head telling her she wasn't doing what she was supposed to do.

But what could be more important than helping children?

Besides, there was more to it than teaching kids how to fine tune their psychic abilities. Miki helped them cope with being different and how not to abuse their abilities, and sometimes she needed to be a shoulder to cry on. She was mentor, older sister, and Mom.

Her conscience had no right to tell her what she was doing was wrong.

#

As promised, Azusa kept in touch. Miki found several emails waiting for her after she got her computer set up. She clicked on the first one:

Miki,

You missed it! We had a real live UFO incident on the island. I'm not kidding! The monsters started howling and the power went out at the base. Then someone—or maybe I should say something—wandered the halls in the administrative building when the lights were out. It locked itself in the computer room. I don't know how it managed that because, remember, the door has no lock! Meru tried busting the doorknob with a fire extinguisher but the knob wouldn't break. Then the door just opened by itself and the stranger was gone.

By then the lights had come back on and Godzilla Junior was outside the base all upset. Meru read his mind to see what was wrong. It turned out he had seen a bright light in the sky. To think, our Godzilla Junior saw his first UFO. Don't laugh, but I feel kind of proud.

The computer is in working order and no one was hurt. So don't worry about us. We're fine. It's exciting to talk about it now, but it was scary when it happened. Just think, if you had waited one more night before going home you could've experience this, too.

Write soon!

Azusa Gojo

PS: Delete this email! G-Force doesn't want us talking about this incident. I will get in serious trouble if anyone finds out I told you.

Miki didn't like the sound of this. She clicked on the next email:

Miki,

You're right. Attitude plays a big part in getting along with people. Aoki, the professor and I decided to take what you had said to heart and make an extra effort to be Meru's friend. Since she had spent time in the United States, we celebrated her promotion by preparing for her a traditional America meal of a cheeseburger and fried potatoes. She was so touched. We then toasted with a can of beer. The professor apologized because we didn't have Champaign. Meru said, "Don't worry. I never turn down a cold beer."

I must say, Meru pulled us together after, you know, that hiccup in our operations. She's got guts.

Azusa

What a relief! Nothing more happened with the UFO. It was strange the incident occurred at all. As a psychic, Miki had the opportunity to meet people from all fields of parapsychology including ufologists and UFO abductees. She listened to a recording of a hypnotic regression session at a conference. What she heard convinced her to turn down every invitation to join an UFO investigation. When the person under hypnosis was asked to describe the entity he had seen he screamed "I can't! I can't! I can't!" When he finally described what he saw he ended the session weeping in anguish.

UFOs were no joke.

The next email was from Meru. What a surprise! Miki had exchanged email addresses with her as a polite gesture. She didn't think they'd stay in touch. The email read:

Miki!

How are you? Is Tokyo treating you well?

I have a favor to ask. Do you still have the recording of the song the students at the Psionic Center sang to Junior when he was a baby? Please ship me a copy when you can. I want to see if it will have a calming effect on Anguirus as it did on Junior. We need to show progress with the monsters so the government bean counters will continue our funding for the next fiscal year. In fact, if I can get the monsters tame enough we might be able to open a resort alongside the base for tourists to come see them. We would become financially independent! Then Professor Omae and Azusa will be able to study Anguirus and Junior at their own pace. Maybe you can come back as a tour guide. Wouldn't that be fun? We'd all be together again. We could call the resort "Monster Land" or "Monster Island"? What do you think?

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Please let me know if you can send a copy of the song.

_Arigato!_

Meru Ozawa

Meru's attitude had changed. When Miki was in charge of the team she acted as though the island was not big enough for the two of them. Now she wanted Miki to come back. Azusa, Aoki, and the professor had done well. They were all getting along.

Miki copied her tape and mailed it as Meru had asked.

Both Azusa and Meru kept her up to date. Anguirus reacted well to the song. He no longer stomped around the base threatening to drive the research team off the island. The only time he came to the base was when he was in the mood to hear the song again. Otherwise he spent his days within the island's interior.

After the UFO incident, Anguirus and Godzilla Junior huddled around each other, peeking up at the sky. Azusa thought it was cute, but Miki found it troubling. Animals sensed danger. To her it was proof something did visit the island and it wasn't friendly. But nothing more was said of the encounter and Anguirus and Godzilla Junior achieved a détente because of it.

Godzilla Junior still tried to get on friendly terms with Anguirus. He left a bundle of trees as a peace offering at Anguirus's feet. Anguirus ignored the token. The trees dried in the tropical sun and, in Azusa's words, "wilted like a bouquet of flowers." Junior was dejected. "Godzilla Junior may have to accept Anguirus won't befriend a carnivore," Azusa wrote.

Her friends were doing great. She was doing great. As far as Miki was concerned her conscience could take a hike. Life was as it should be.

Yet, Miki ignored the fact she looked forward to reading Azusa's emails at night more than she did getting up in the morning to go to work. Azusa attached photos of the monsters, the team going about their research, and odd bits like storm clouds and sunrises. Miki touched her computer screen, yearning to be there.

She was ignoring how badly her psychic ability was diminishing. The students noticed and teased her about how their senses were more attuned than hers. She laughed and twisted it into something positive by saying she wasn't getting weaker. They were getting stronger.

Yet she couldn't ignore how colors were not as bright. Sounds were not as rich. Meanings behind events were not as clear. The patterns and nuances, the tapestry of nature she used to see so clearly were slowly fading. She felt as though she were going blind.

Miki coped by telling herself, _OK, you can't sense things as clearly as you did yesterday, but you can still sense things. You're fine._

Mr. Hosono stopped her in the hall at the Psionic Center. "Will you come to my office?"

Miki followed him to his office. He didn't say anything until they sat down.

"How are you doing today?" he asked as he got out her work file.

So formal. Miki wondered if she were in trouble.

"Fine." She bounced the ball back into his side of the court. "How are you?"

He smiled. "I'm good, thank you." His smiled disappeared. He folded his hands and set his forearms atop her file, covering remarks he had written in red. "Let me begin by saying you've been a joy to work with. You're a hard worker. The children adore you."

Mr. Hosono paused to drop the other shoe.

Miki prodded by saying, "But…"

"But we need to confront the reality your extra-sensory perception is not what it used to be. In fact, your last evaluation," Mr. Hosono took the results from her file and handed them to her, "shows you have dropped to a Level E1."

E1-entry level, or basically the level of an ordinary person.

Miki stared at her results with an open mouth. "Was this why my results had been withheld?"

"Yes. After careful consideration I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave your current position with the Psionic Center."

"You mean I'm fired?"

"Ms. Saegusa, your position requires someone with an ESP Level E5, at least. You barely rated an E5 when we took you back. Now you are no more psychic than my secretary."

"That can't be! I was getting stronger. I've been able to use telekinesis and you have to be an E10-plus to do that."

"Can you use telekinesis now?"

Miki wasn't sure.

Mr. Hosono set a pen before her. "Try lifting this."

Miki focused on the pen. She couldn't get a mental feel for its size and mass. "I can't. Not while someone is watching."

Mr. Hosono chuckled and took his pen.

Miki fought back tears. "Isn't there any other openings? How about a student counselor? I practically work as a counselor as it is helping the children with their problems."

"I'm happy you feel that way," Hosono went back to his usual genial demeanor, "because I believe you would make a fine counselor."

Miki smiled, relieved. "When would you like me to start?"

"Well," Mr. Hosono said, "as soon as you become a licensed child psychologist."

"What?"

"Miki," Mr. Hosono smiled, not seeing a problem, "you already started your degree. Finish your schooling and come back."

"Doesn't my experience count?"

"Absolutely, but this is a government funded institute. We have to follow regulations. Only licensed practitioners can become counselors."

"It'll be at least three years before I earn my degree."

"Don't worry. We'll always keep the doors open for you."

Miki couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What am I supposed to do for an income in the mean time?"

Mr. Hosono shrugged as if the problem was elementary. "Get another job."

#

Gigan reached the coordinates they had given him, the star called Sol. All he needed to do was make contact with his creators' allies. According to the mission data, the allies should already have spacecraft in orbit over the target planet, the third planet in the system.

Presently he was in a field of drifting rock. The star shined like a distant beacon.

Gigan initiated scanning, filtering the starlight to locate the planets. He found the target, magnified the image on his visor display. A gem of a world appeared. Oceans of liquid water—check. Oxygen\Nitrogen content within described ratio—check. Life signs include industrial waste in biosphere—check. This world matched the one described in the mission data.

He intensified scanning and located the ships. He transmitted a scrambled hailing frequency.

Shortly he received a response. "Welcome, Gigan. You arrived on schedule. Operations are nearly ready. We have observed two creatures on the planet which may pose a threat to your safety. They are identified by the indigenous population as 'Anguirus' and 'Godzilla'. Currently they are not within the operations area. We will keep you updated if their location changes. For now go to this island." The allies uploaded coordinates on the planet surface. "Wait there until needed."

As Gigan scanned, one of the rocks drifted within his scanning beam. He detected an embryo inside. Further scanning indicated this creature to have three heads, two tails and a pair of developing wings. It was covered in gold-colored scales. Cerebral data indicated this unborn infant to be a being after his own heart, violent.

Gigan liked the idea of having a protégé. He grabbed the rock between his hooked hands and took it with him to the planet.

#

Now out of a job, Miki accepted Terasawa's offer to collaborate on a book about Godzilla. The advance impressed her until she found out she had to live on it until the book started selling in stores.

They got together at a small restaurant which specialized in Udon noodles. Terasawa suggested she talk about her experiences with Godzilla so he could think of a theme for their book. Miki took a long, deep breath while she sorted out her memories. It was painful at first but as she spoke, sharing her experiences helped release her pent up feelings. At times she paused to stop the tears from welling up and then bravely continued.

Terasawa stopped note taking as he became entranced with her narrative.

Miki noticed their noodles were no longer giving off steam. "Our food is getting cold. Do you want me to continue?"

"You know," he slipped his pencil into the spring of his spiral notebook, "I did an article on local history in this town a few years back and I talked to this widow. She was in her 70s. Sweet woman. Sharp memory. I'd dare say her past was all she had left to cling to for comfort. Her name was Mrs. Hanabi. I'm thinking about her because you talk about Godzilla in the same way she talked about her deceased husband."

Miki reacted with a start.

"I'm sorry!" Terasawa assured her. "I'm not trying to make fun of you."

"I know…" Miki experienced a moment of clarity. There was truth in Terasawa's comment.

Terasawa checked to be sure the other patrons weren't close enough to eavesdrop and spoke softly, "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

Miki averted his gaze and shook her head, then recalled one man. "There was a soldier in G-Force I found attractive but he didn't see any future in a relationship with me." She blushed. "I was too caught up with Godzilla."

Terasawa grinned and waxed eloquently, "So Godzilla was the only man in your life, the bringer of death who died—consumed really—by his own radioactive fire."

"What did you say?" Miki said in shock.

_There once was girl who asked a stranger wearing a pin-striped suit and dirty sneakers, __"If you know so much about me, tell me about my future. Like, who's going to be my boyfriend?"_

_ The man drew the Ace of Spades from his deck of cards._

_"That's the death card," the girl said. "Are you saying my future boyfriend is going to be the bringer of death or he's going to die?"_

_ The man said in a British accent: "Both."_

Miki grabbed her purse and left Terasawa behind in the restaurant, horrified that he might have ruined their partnership. She grabbed the subway and rushed back to the Starbucks, back to the table where she met the stranger.

A man with a fresh cup of coffee and a newspaper sat down at the table. Miki glared at him until he took the hint and sheepishly found another seat. She wanted no distractions.

Sitting down, she set her palms on the tabletop and burrowed deep into her memory of what happened when she met the stranger with the deck of cards. There was something in that moment she missed. Something obvious…

The cards.

Yes, the cards!

Playing cards weren't always used for games but for divination and fortune telling. The Tarot deck evolved from a deck of playing cards.

The truth became clear. Bumping into him was no coincidence. She knew playing cards had been used for fortune telling and he knew she knew. The cards were meant to set the tone of their conversation, a signal that he knew her inside and out. He knew what trials she would face and he warned her: Listen to your heart.

Did she take him seriously? Did she do as he asked? If she were brutally honest, did she follow her heart?

No.

#

Gigan brought the Ghidorah egg to an active volcano a hundred miles from the Japanese coast. He doted over it as it drew energy from the magma brewing under the rocky slope. The egg expanded steadily until the moment came.

The cyborg kaiju stepped back as the cosmic rock containing the Ghidorah embryo flashed. The barometric pressure changed and the temperature dropped as the winds blew. Black clouds gathered overhead. Thunder growled and boomed. Wicked bolts of lightning struck the egg. It was as if the infant inside was sucking energy out of the heavens.

The egg split and a ball of fire burst up into the air and took the form of a three-headed, golden dragon—Ghidorah! Now adult size, Ghidorah flapped down to his adoptive parent. Electricity flickered from his wings. His ringing chirps seemed to ask, "Who are you?"

Gigan greeted the space dragon with an electric roar and held his arms out as if offering to embrace the creature. The cyborg identified himself as Ghidorah's guardian.

Ghidorah sensed the love of violence in Gigan. They could try to destroy each other or, better yet, join together and destroy this world.

Gigan crossed his hooked hands to signal that he seeks an alliance, too.

Ghidorah flapped vigorously, showing the idea excited him.

Pleased, Gigan pointed to the slope of the volcano. He wanted to see a demonstration of power.

The golden dragon flew up high over the shore and pelted the slope with energy beams from his three mouths. The beams cracked the hard rock and lava spewed out, washing the shattered regolith into the sea.

Gigan jumped back in time before he found himself ankle-deep in liquid stone. He clapped his hooks together, impressed by the demonstration.

They would make a good team.

#

Miki was still working out the revelation she had when another Starbucks customer asked if he could take a seat at the table.

"No," she said. "I need to be alone."

"Oh," the man said, sounding disappointed.

Miki looked up and to her surprise she saw the customer was a friend. "Aoki! What are you doing here?"

Aoki sat down with his coffee and a tourist map. "I quit the team and came home."

"You quit? Why?"

"Because of Meru. She said we needed to teach Anguirus and Godzilla Junior how to respect borders. So she ordered the base crew to cut a path through the jungle and had it paved and painted white. Then when the monsters tried to cross the path she'd call out 'stop!' over her bull horn. Godzilla Junior learned how to stop but you know Anguirus. He took this as a challenge.

"What made me angry was that she had a maser tank delivered to the island. It was supposed to be used as 'positive reinforcement'. If a monster didn't obey it would get a jolt from the tank. She wanted me to crew the gun.

"I said, no!

"She said, it'll be OK. The gun will be set on low power so it won't hurt any more than a cattle prod.

"I told her treating them this way will make it harder for us to befriend them.

"She insisted we needed to teach them compliance because she wanted to prove to G-Force the monsters can be trained to stay away from populated areas. Trying to be friends with them would take too long, she said."

"Was Meru worried about funding?" Miki asked.

"Yes," Aoki said. "Our yearly review is coming up and Meru was worried our team might get disbanded if we didn't show enough progress. But firing at the monsters with a maser tank, regardless of how low the discharge, is a step backward. I told her, 'if you keep insisting I crew the tank I'll quit.' She said, 'Go ahead. Quit.' So I did.

"Now I'm back and I'm going to do some sightseeing to clear my head."

Miki wondered why she hadn't heard from anyone for a while. She figured everything on the island was fine. "What about Azusa?"

"She's furious, but she's staying. She won't leave her baby." Aoki grinned, referring to Azusa's affection toward Godzilla Junior. "I was hoping we could come back together. She's a little too much like you," he cocked a disapproving brow. "She's too attached to her favorite dinosaur."

Miki smiled sheepishly then changed the subject. "What about Professor Omae?"

"He resigned the same day I quit. He told Meru she was pushing too hard. Nature can't be rushed. She said she understood his frustration but if G-Force concludes the Dinosaur Research Team is a waste of money that would be it."

Aoki exhaled. He looked glum. "I can see her side of this to a point. The problem is she has no tact. It's a shame you left. We needed you."

Miki clasped her hands together. She dwelt on her deepened understanding of her encounter with the stranger. "I wish I had stayed. Since coming back I realize I felt the most fulfilled using my ESP to communicate with giant animals. I told myself I was happier teaching gifted children at the Psionic Center. It's an important job, helping children. But if I can help bring harmony between us and kaiju I would be helping everyone. It would be like bringing harmony between man and nature."

Miki became wistful at the prospect. "Anyway, I wouldn't have been much use for long if I had stayed on the team. I didn't want anyone to know, but I was losing my ESP. In fact, I just lost my job at the Psionic Center. My last evaluation rated me as an E1 which is as low as you can go. I'm no longer psychic."

"So?"

Miki was surprised by his reaction. "So?"

"Your ESP wasn't the only thing that was important. Azusa and the professor were the team's intellect. My engineering skill made me the muscle. You were the team's center. You were…" Aoki paused to think of a better word.

"The team's heart?" Miki said, thinking of the playing card the stranger had given her.

"Yeah!" Aoki brightened up. "You were the team's heart. As for Meru, I don't know where she fits in." He shrugged. "The team's comedy relief, I guess."

"No," Miki shook her head. "Meru was our backbone."

Aoki thought about it. "You're right. She's tough. She is our backbone. See? This is what I mean. You know how to ease conflict. I bet you could've juggled everybody's worries with no problem."

"If you believe this is the case then the team's breakup is my fault." Miki took his hand. "Will you forgive Meru?"

Aoki struggled with how she turned the blame onto herself. It was clear he didn't want to forgive Meru. "All right," he said.

Miki smiled and let go of his hand.

"I should head out." Aoki stood and pocketed his map.

Miki got up and they bowed in farewell to each other. Then they realized their lives had taken different courses. Their paths may never cross again.

They embraced, not wanting to let go.

#

Miki stopped receiving emails from Azusa and Meru. It would have been nice if they kept her in the loop of what was going on even if they were angry with each other. Eventually she did find out what was happening when she switched on the TV:

"This is Tomoko Mahiko of NHK News. After the death of Godzilla, the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasure Center put away their maser tanks and Super-X wonder weapons when it came to dealing with Godzilla Junior. Godzilla Junior was born in captivity at the National Life Research Center in Tokyo under the care of Professor Omae and his assistant Azusa Gojo. As a result, this second Godzilla matured into a benign creature. It was hoped Omae and Gojo's accomplishments could be replicated with another monster.

"The opportunity came when a giant ankylosaur called Anguirus was discovered in the Marshall Islands. The UNGCC formed the Dinosaur Research Team to achieve just that. Made up of the foremost experts in the field, the team was stationed on Anguirus's island. Since then the team leader, psychic Miki Saegusa, resigned for undisclosed personal reasons. Then chief engineer Kazuma Aoki and Professor Omae quit citing irreconcilable differences with Ms. Saegusa's replacement, Meru Ozawa.

"Now today, tragedy has struck the beleaguered research team. The ankylosaur attacked the base after receiving a mild discharge from a maser tank. The tank was meant to help train the animal to respond to commands. Instead the beast went into a frenzy. Godzilla Junior in turn attacked Anguirus, apparently to protect the base. Personnel are at this moment evacuating the island. No injuries or deaths have been reported. Further details will be broadcasted once they become available."

Miki turned off the TV and set the remote on the nightstand beside her bed. What if she had stayed? Could she have prevented this? On the other hand, without her ESP how effective would she have been?

The phone rang. She hoped the reporters won't be calling, pressuring her for an opinion. Miki cringed as she answered it. Thankfully it was Terasawa.

"Listen, I am really sorry if I upset you the other day."

"You didn't upset me. I was in a hurry because I had an appointment to make."

"Oh! OK, good." Terasawa sounded relieved. "I suppose you heard the news about Anguirus going nuts."

"Yeah," Miki said. Her tone was subdued.

"I imagine you're worried about your friends."

"Half of them already came home. But, yes, I'm worried." She would add she felt responsible but didn't feel close enough to Terasawa to confide with him.

"Is this a bad time?" He talked as though he were tiptoeing on thin ice again. "Do you want me to hang up?"

"No. I'm all right. What did you want?"

"I called to check on you, to see if you want to do some more work on the book."

Miki sat up in her bed. "Sure."

Her uptick in enthusiasm emboldened Terasawa to pursue the subject he really called about. "I came up with a theme for our book. You bring a unique perspective about Godzilla. You're the only person I know who actually saw his tender side. So how about if we put him in a sympathetic light? Godzilla—the misunderstood monster. What do you think?"

"I like it."

"Although we should start the first chapter acknowledging the damage he had caused otherwise readers may not take us seriously. So I lined up a couple more interviews with survivors from his 1954 rampage. If we split up the interviewing duties we can get that part of the book done in half the time."

Miki saw this as an opportunity to persuade people to look beyond violence as a solution in dealing with giant animals. It was funny how Terasawa had compared her to the widow, because like the old woman she was becoming tied to her past. At least the book was helping her find a new purpose for her life.

The person she was going to interview was a retired salesman named Chitoki. He resided in the town of Mizuho. She boarded the train midafternoon. It was going to be a long ride. The rhythmic click-clack lulled her to sleep.

Near the end of the trip she awoke to the voices of the passengers behind her.

"Look at the light!"

"Aw! It's beautiful. Like a lantern in the sky."

Miki looked out the window.

Over the hills in the distance an oval-shaped light blazed intently. It gave her the impression of a watchful eye.

"Do you think it's a star?"

"No. Stars flicker. This is a steady light. Must be a planet. Venus I bet!"

"No, it's not late enough for Venus to be out."

"It's a plane," Miki said with authority.

"You think so?" one of the passengers asked.

"Yes," she replied firmly.

"Oh." The passengers quieted down, which was what Miki wanted. She fell back asleep.

The train arrived in Mizuho in the early evening. The sky turned a pleasant orange as the sun settled on the horizon. Miki felt refreshed from her nap.

In Mizuho, one could take a deep breath without going dizzy from car exhaust or look up and see clouds instead of row upon row of high rise windows. Most buildings were no more than two to three stories high with white walls and black-tiled roofs. Trees and flowerbeds nestled against the houses. Wooded hills made up the skyline. The general mood was more relaxed as the residents casually went about their affairs.

Outside the station Miki tried to phone Terasawa to let him know she arrived OK but her cell phone wouldn't work. It just hissed as if it wasn't getting a signal.

She located a pay phone only to find a man having trouble making a call. He angrily slammed down the receiver and grumbled, "Just my luck. My cell doesn't work. The pay phone doesn't work. My wife is going to kill me if I don't call."

His cell wasn't working, either. What an uncanny coincidence.

Miki hurried along. She was supposed to meet Mr. Chitoki and his wife at 6pm for dinner at his house. Afterwards they would conduct the interview. It was 5:30 now.

While watching for a cab, she noticed a storefront window displaying television sets. Not a one was getting a reception. The store clerk fiddled with his merchandise, puzzled over what was happening.

On the other side of the street a man was having trouble tuning in his portable radio. At the street corner up a head a group of teens were puzzling over their phones. They appeared to be having the same trouble she had.

No phones. No radio. No TV. It was as if someone had subjected the town to a communications blackout.

Then a bright light, identical to the one she had seen while on the train, caught her attention. It flew overhead without making a sound or drawing anyone else's attention.

Azusa said in her email the power went out when a bright light appeared over the island. Maybe these were all the same lights. But the situation in Mizuho was different. People weren't receiving radio transmissions. What was it the G-Force generals said? Before you invade a country, knock out communications.

As if to confirm Miki's worst fears, a three-headed dragon trailed after the light, spewing energy beams from the sky.

Miki gasped. "King Ghidorah!"

The monster Godzilla had destroyed was back from the ashes like the Phoenix of old. Explosions rocked the street as Ghidorah's beams danced all over town. Black smoke rolled up behind him like an oncoming storm. He soared overhead and brought a whirlwind in his wake.

The gusts bowled her over and swept her up in the tumbling debris, dust, and smoke.

Miki blacked out.

When she came to it was dark. Smoke blackened the sky. Her head hurt. A sheet of corrugated aluminum from someone's shed lay across her. She didn't recognize where she was. Wreckage was everywhere.

A man knelt down beside her. "Miss, are you hurt?"

"I'm sore." Miki tried to move. It hurt, but no bones were broken. "But I'm all right."

"Good! We need help setting up shelters for the injured."

The man was part of a group of about twenty residents. They started putting up tents for an ad hoc rescue center in an intersection when they found her.

"What happened to the police?" Miki asked.

The man shook his head. "Don't know. The phones are down and the power is out."

While the man gave her the rundown, she saw figures backlit by the fires. They strode toward the camp with an easy, purposeful grace. From their outline it appeared they were wearing a sort of hazmat suit with hoses along the limbs. The cloth had a peculiar, silvery sheen as though it were made of metal. The heads especially stood out with their handlebar-like ears.

The man turned to see what she was staring at. He got up and approached the strangers, waving his arms to get their attention. "Are you with the army? We need help!"

The lead figure raised its hand and shot an arc of electricity from its fingers. The discharged branched in multiple directions, striking the man and several others at once. They dropped to the ground. At first everyone else stopped construction of the camp and gaped in shock. The figures kept coming. The lead figure fired another charge, dropping three more people. When the realization sank in they were under attack, the residents screamed and scattered for cover.

In the confusion, Miki bolted from under the metal sheet.

The silver men were on every street. Miki rounded a corner and crashed head on into one of them. It was like slamming into a steel post. She fell onto her back. The silver man looked down at her with empty eye holes in a smooth, featureless face. Its mouth was a mere slit.

It bent down to grab her.

Miki scrambled out of reach.

An alley led to a row of houses on a hill slope. They were on the leeward side from Ghidorah's flight over the town. So they were intact. She banged on the door to the first house.

"Is anyone in there? Let me in!"

No answer, but the window was open.

Miki climbed in and slammed the window shut, locked it then drew the curtains.

Adjusting to the darkness, she found a body on the floor. It was an elderly woman. Her skin was warm, but she had no pulse.

"Her heart was weak," a voice spoke as if to answer a question. It seemed to crackle with electricity.

Miki jumped to her feet, startled.

Two silver men exited the kitchen. The sound of the floor creaking under their footsteps made it clear these creatures were heavy and powerful. Their heads brushed the ceiling.

"Who are you?" Miki demanded.

"We are the Cybermen." The one who spoke pointed at the corpse and repeated, "Her heart was weak but yours is strong. You will become like us." The other Cyberman pointed two fingers at Miki.

With the door and windows locked, running was not an option. Miki grabbed a chair and swung at the silver monsters.

They showed no fear. No sooner Miki pulled back to swing the second Cyberman jolted her with a discharged of energy. She dropped to the floor.

The first Cyberman stepped over the dead body and picked up Miki. Then all three of them vanished from the house in a flash of light.

_**End of Part 2**_

_**There's more to come!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Queen of Hearts

By Neil Riebe

Part 3

King Ghidorah attacked the towns and suburbs surrounding the Tokyo metropolitan area. To inhibit the authorities, the Cybermen jammed communication in the affected areas and scrambled civilian and military radar. Police and rescue teams were forced to piece together what was happening by word of mouth. Help arrived slowly and often too late. The Cybermen grabbed shell-shocked survivors from the blazing streets and teleported them to their spacecraft. They even plucked the injured from the wreckage. By the time rescuers arrived they found a few corpses and a community stripped of life.

Once aboard the ships, the Cybermen locked the survivors inside coffin-like conversion cubicles where the subject was sedated. Limbs, bodily organs, and facial tissue were systematically superheated into a liquid, drained, and replaced by cybernetic parts until all that remained was the subject's brain. Even that underwent conditioning so the subject would not go into shock as it marched out of the conversion cubicle as a newly-minted Cyberman.

Miki regained consciousness upon a surgical table. It was no wider than her hips. Her arms were suspended out from her sides and locked tight to a crossbeam. Two Cybermen manned a console while a third operated a scanner which slowly passed over her from head to toe.

Surprisingly she felt no ill effect from the electric jolt which had knocked her unconscious.

"Are you the same Cybermen who shocked me?"

They didn't reply.

"Do any of you have names? I'm Miki Saegusa and I want to go home!"

"We know who you are." The Cyberman at the scanner extended his hand toward her purse. The contents lay spread out on a flat portion of the console. "Your name and face matches the records in the computer database at the UNGCC HQ."

"So you got my name off my charge card. Doesn't mean I'm the same Saegusa who worked for G-Force."

"Your identity has been confirmed." The Cyberman's electric voice prickled the hairs on the back of her neck. "You will become a useful member of the Cyber race."

"What do you mean? Are you going to turn me into a robot?"

"We are living beings like you with the exception that our minds are no longer contained in fragile organic material like this." The Cyberman squeezed her arm with its hard fingers.

Miki shook her head. "I don't want to be like you!"

"Your fear is natural but illogical. Left as you are, your teeth will rot, loosen, and fall from their sockets. Your hair will go gray and thin. Your bones will turn brittle. The sight of the younger generation will make you ache for your lost youth while familiar faces pass away one by one until you are alone in a strange bed being cared for by strangers who see you as nothing more than a job. They may smile but their hearts are cold. They look forward to your death so they can change the sheets and get on with the next job. Is this what you want?"

"I'm young," Miki said. "What you're talking about is years away."

The Cyberman leaned closer, staring at her with its smooth, blank expression and empty, round eyeholes. "Think back to when you were a child. Remember how long a single day seemed to last? A day does not seem so long now, does it? The days will only grow shorter as you grow older."

"But what's going to be left of me if I'm like you?"

"The most important part," the Cyberman touched her forehead, "your intellect."

Miki cringed at the machine creature's touch. "I'll take my few good years of living a full life than an eternity as a machine!"

The Cyberman resumed scanning.

"Why are you so insistent in making me like you?" Miki demanded. "Are you doing the same thing to other people? Is that why you came to Earth, to turn us into machines?" She drew in her breath when she realized she had stumbled into the Cybermen's one design flaw. "Of course… You can't bear children! This is the only way you can grow your population, by stealing the population of other planets."

The Cyberman manning the scanner turned back toward her. "Correct. But with you we must proceed with care. You are special."

"How?"

"Your psychic ability will make you a unique member of the Cyber race."

Miki laughed bitterly. "You're too late! My ESP is gone."

One of the Cybermen at the console put up on the monitor video footage of Godzilla when he was at the Haneda airport. This was the moment the excess radiation in his body burned him alive. His skin glowed with a molten orange color. Steam rolled off his body. He roared as if crying, "Why am I dying? It's not my time!" The footage played out as his flesh dripped from the bones and the bones blackened into ash. He vanished as the energy inside him turned radiant, almost heavenly. Of all the images they could've shown, this one she didn't need to see again.

However, one aspect of the footage stood out. The point of view was from the sky. This was their recording of Godzilla. How long have the Cybermen been observing Earth?

The Cyberman who played the footage faced Miki. "Your sorrow for this creature's death is inhibiting your psychic ability. We will remove your sorrow."

"What?" The news stunned Miki.

"This is why we must proceed with care. We must know which organic functions are necessary to your extra-sensory perception and which can be deleted."

"You're saying I'm still psychic?"

"Correct," the Cyberman at the scanner said. He switched off the device. "Our scanning is complete. Once a procedure is finalized we will return."

The Cyberman at the console put up a bird's eye view of Tokyo. "While you wait, observe what will happen to your capitol. Once we begin phase two you will see how futile it is to cling to your old life."

The three Cybermen left her alone in the room.

If they were right about her ESP, all she needed to do was get over her grief. She should've stayed with the Dinosaur Research Team. If she had, not only would she have avoided capture, she could've helped the team pit Godzilla Junior and Anguirus against the Cybermen.

It goes to show you had better get a grip on your feelings because they will be dealt with and it won't be on your terms.

#

The Cybermen dispatched Gigan and Ghidorah. The two space monsters tore through the Japanese capitol with the glee of demented children smashing their toys.

Sirens wailed throughout Tokyo as the police shepherded the citizens toward the shelters. Drivers abandoned their vehicles. In this sort of crisis, the roads jammed beyond hope. The terror was palpable, yet there was a degree of orderliness to the chaos. Giant monsters had attacked Japan often enough for people to know what they should do, that is, until the Cybermen appeared.

They teleported into the sewers and popped up in the midst of the slow-flowing rivers of humanity. The people at first mistook them as soldiers in special hazmat suits. When the Cybermen opened fire, the people screamed and trampled each other, trying to escape. Bodies dropped by the score as the Cybermen shocked them into unconsciousness with their electrical discharges. The fallen victims had no idea that many of the Cybermen picking them up off the ground were once fellow Japanese.

The Cyber task force commanders monitored the harvest from the command ship in orbit over the Earth. The roundup of people from Tokyo's outlying areas swelled their ranks to ninety thousand. This completed Phase 1. By the end of Phase 2 all of Tokyo would be converted into Cybermen. Their force would be nine million strong. At that point, according to the tactical computer, their task force would be unstoppable. They would be able to convert all of Japan then fan out to China, the Korean peninsula, and Siberia. From there—the entire world.

But first, the Cybermen focused on their primary objective, the United Nations Godzilla Counter Measure Center HQ in Tokyo.

G-Force Director Segawa and General Aso took their seats in the command center at UNGCC HQ. Segawa was G-Force's grand patriarch. He was the only one in the room who saw Godzilla when the monster first appeared off Japan's shores in the 50s. He remembered the day well. It was night. He was aboard a cruise ship with his girlfriend. He lit up a cigarette when the beast raised his head out from the sea. The rest was all chaos as the passengers scrambled to get inside the ship. General Aso was his right hand, the iron will backing Segawa's soft-spoken commands.

The main monitor showed a column of maser tanks trundling up the Sotobori expressway, toward Gigan. Gigan took to the air and flew over the tanks, holding his hooks out from his sides. The hooks cut through the buildings on either side of the street like scythes, bringing the structures toppling atop the column.

The image cut to Ghidorah. Maser fighters strafed him to no effect. He landed upon the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Hip-deep in trees, the golden space dragon loomed over the ornate castle buildings and spewed his beams across the moat, shattering the high rises on the other side of the bank. Glass shards twinkled in the expanding mountains of smoke.

"Are we experiencing any interference in communications?" the director asked his staff.

"Not yet," a tech replied.

"What do you think, General," the director asked Aso, "are the UFO sightings connected with these monsters?"

"It would be too much of a coincidence if they weren't." General Aso glared at the destruction up on the screen. He was fed up with fighting losing battles.

Director Segawa shook his head. "I can't wrap my head around the idea we're being invaded by aliens from space."

"Why not?" The General cocked his brow. "We've battled plant monsters, time travelers, and giant bugs. Alien invasion is about the only thing left on the list. It was inevitable."

Aboard the Cybermen's command ship, Miki pinched her eyes tight so she wouldn't have to watch the destruction flashing on the screen. Yet she could still hear the explosions and the thundering crash of her city collapsing into ruins.

"Oh, God," she prayed, "please stop this! Please!"

There was one last thing she could do, deny the Cybermen her ESP. She had heard a person could bleed to death by biting their tongue.

Miki mustered her resolve and put her tongue between her teeth. Tears flowed. She lost her nerve and let go of her tongue.

She tried again. This time she was going to do it. She put her tongue between her teeth. Biting your tongue by accident hurt enough, how much more painful was this going to be? Don't think about, she told herself. Just do it!

As Miki readied herself, the sound of a wheezing motor caught her attention. A blue telephone booth gradually materialized. The wheezing reached a crescendo and when the booth became fully visible the wheezing ended with a clunk.

The stranger popped out of the booth still wearing the pin-striped suit and dirty white sneakers. "I'll get you out of here in two seconds." He hit a couple keys on the console and the console lights switched off and the alarms sounded. "Oops! Lockdown. Should've seen that coming. OK, make that three seconds. There's nothing my sonic screwdriver can't fix." He fished out of his pocket a handle with a bright light on the end and aimed it at the obstinate console. A sonic hum emitted from the device.

The console didn't response.

"All right. No worries. There's always Mr. Hammer." The stranger pulled an ordinary hammer out of his pocket and smashed open the console. He yanked several wires, touched one live end to another. Sparks spat once the ends touched and the clamps pinning Miki to the operating table popped open.

Slipping his tools back into his pockets, the stranger helped Miki to her feet. "Come on!"

Miki went to the console and swept her stuff back into her purse.

"Hurry up," the stranger called from inside the box.

"I'm coming!" Miki ducked inside the booth as the doors opened and the Cybermen strode into the operating room.

From the outside, the booth didn't look big enough for two people, but inside was another matter. Miki stepped into a large chamber. At the center was a six-sided control console with a column rising up to the ceiling. The stranger pulled a lever which shut the doors and flipped a few switches, darted to another panel, flipped a few more switches, and darted back around to another panel, turned a dial and pulled one more lever. Then he exhaled as the wheezing sound resumed. "Phew! We made it!"

Miki clutched her purse to her chest and marveled at the bizarre arches partitioning the room and the roundels on the walls. She then turned toward the exit, expecting to hear the Cybermen pounding on the doors.

"Don't worry," the stranger said. "We're out of reach of the Cybermen. In fact, we're in orbit over the planet you call Mars, or 'home' if you happen to be an Ice Warrior." He directed her attention to the viewer. The rust-colored Martian landscape filled the screen.

Miki took his word for it.

"Well," the stranger leaned on his six-sided console, "how long has it been? It seems like we just met yesterday—actually for me it was just yesterday. How long has it been for you? Ten…fifteen years?"

"Who are you?" Miki demanded.

"I am the Doctor," the stranger said.

"Doctor…?"

"Just the Doctor."

His cup of iced coffee and deck of cards were on a small table near the console. The cup was only a quarter full and the ice had melted. Miki examined the cards. The Queen of Hearts was missing.

"You're a time traveler," Miki said.

"Yep."

"From Earth?"

The Doctor shook his head. "My homeworld is a long way from here."

Miki set the cards back on the table. "I failed you, Doctor. You knew this day was coming and you tried to warn me and I didn't listen. If I had followed my heart like you told me I wouldn't have resigned from my post. I would've stayed with my friends and we could've stopped this disaster. I know we could've. Now it's too late and it's my fault!"

The Doctor listened. He seemed all too familiar with committing unforgivable sins. "You are shouldering too much of the blame. You didn't know what was at stake. You still don't."

Miki frowned. "What more could be at stake?"

"I'm dealing with the same problem you are, the Cybermen, but two hundred years in the future. There's a lot more of them and they're sweeping across the galaxy like locusts, harvesting lives, making others like them. And they have a leader, a psychic Cyber Leader. Oh, this leader is brilliant! It knows my every move. Wherever I go there's a whole regiment of Cybermen waiting for me. I can't even get near this Cyber Leader because when I do it roots through my mind for the secret of time travel. It's learned enough to operate the TARDIS," he patted a lever on the six-sided control panel. "The next time we meet it will probably learn how to build one. I can't risk the Cybermen becoming time travelers. That's what's at stake."

"Where do I fit into this?" Miki asked.

The Doctor stared at her long and hard to be sure she was ready for the answer. "I traced the leader's origins to this century, to you. You will become the psychic Cyber Leader."

Miki opened her mouth in horror. "But you've stopped that from happening, right? You rescued me."

The Doctor shrugged. "For the moment."

"What do you mean? You're going to do something about the Cybermen attacking Earth, aren't you?"

"Ah, yes, well here's the rub." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "I've intervened in your century too often. The fabric of time holding your planet together is wearing thin. It can't take much more tinkering before it unravels. See, I didn't come to rescue you. I came to give you a second chance."

"A second chance?" Miki asked.

The Doctor answered with a straight face. "To save your world."

"You're crazy!"

"Not at all. I've seen you in action as a Cyberman."

"Yes, as a machine. I'm not a machine now."

"Exactly!" The Doctor set her down in a chair by the table. "I have the whole Miki Saegusa right here. The Cybermen just got bits and pieces. The whole you should be better than a partial you any day of the week. If they can use you to commit great evil imagine how much more good you can do as you are. You'll be my 20th century Joan of Arc."

Miki narrowed her gaze. "Are you trying to bolster my confidence?"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded then shook his head. "It's not working is it? You're upset because of your mistake."

Miki nodded.

"Shame, guilt, self-loathing, cruel aren't they? They won't let you have a moment's peace. As one who has made his share of mistakes, I can assure you this much. After the self-condemnation has done its worse you will become a better person."

"Doctor, the mistake I made cost people their lives."

"Oh, no," the Doctor shook his head, "don't take their deaths upon yourself. The Cybermen caused those deaths. Your mistake does not absolve them of responsibility." He knelt down on one knee and gripped the sides of her arms. "Someone has to stop this invasion. I can't do it. Believe me, I can't. It's up to you. Yes, it's unfair," he added. "You're a sensitive young woman. You're hurting while the Cybermen are strong and their numbers growing. But here's the good news. I've seen your true potential and believe you me the Cybermen are going to cry foul."  
She couldn't help grinning, yet her sadness held its grip. "I'm not the person I once was. I lost my ESP."

"Really?" The Doctor dug a palm-sized instrument out of his pocket. "Let me take look." He held her face steady and examined her right eye through the instrument then the left. "You appear to be in good health to me."

Miki frowned. "My eyesight is fine."

"Yes, but the eyes are the windows to the soul."

Miki wasn't sure if he was being serious or facetious. With the Doctor it always seemed a little bit of both. "The Cybermen said my grief over Godzilla's death was inhibiting my ESP."

"He was a magnificent beast." The Doctor showed in his tone he understood what the giant meant to her.

"He's just an animal. I don't understand how I can feel so strongly about him."

"Love, like life, has no limit in the form it can take. Come on." The Doctor brought Miki to her feet and encircled his arms around her. His embrace was grandfatherly. She felt warm and safe. "You've been holding back too long."

Miki tried to hold back but she clung to him and cried every last drop of her grief.

Her heart no longer felt heavy, just drained and little embarrassed for crying in the arms of a man she hardly knew. Yet, it seemed all right. He must've dried a girl's tears before. No, she sensed it. She actually sensed it. This man was a grandfather even though he appeared to be in his thirties. He had lived centuries and had many faces. He was a wanderer. All of time and space was his domain. He was…what word did she see forming in her mind? Time Lord. He was a Time Lord.

"Doctor," Miki put her fingertips to her temples, "I…," she said haltingly, uncertain if she should commit herself, "I think my ESP is back. I really think it's back!"

"Let's find out. I'll think of a number between 1 and 10 and you tell me what it is."

Miki concentrated then slapped the side of his arm. "No fair! You're thinking of the square root of pi. It's too long to say."

"It does fall between 1 and 10." This time the Doctor was being completely facetious. He circled around the console and grabbed a bracelet. "Take this time ring. I haven't used it since I was on Skaro. You might as well keep it. The power charge is low. It won't take you through time but it still teleports. So don't use it too often or you'll burn out the charge." He handed her the time ring.

Miki fitted the ring over her wrist. "How do I make it work?"

"All you have to do is think of where you want to go and then," he made a popping sound by hitting his open mouth with his hand, "you're there."

Miki grasped the ring and thought of where she needed to go first. Before she went she bit her lower lip and looked up to the Doctor. "Are you sure I'm the right person for this?"

"Absolutely."

"I'm easily intimidated," she said.

The Doctor slipped his hands into his pockets. "So says the girl who stood up to Godzilla."

"And I cry a lot."

"Be sure to take a tissue along."

"You really are that certain."

"You know I am." A sparkle twinkled in the Doctor's eye. He wasn't pep-talking a girl he was going to throw to the wolves. He sincerely believed in her and if someone who has explored the universe and seen everything since the Big Bang believed in her, perhaps she should, too.

Miki smiled. "Thank you, Doctor, for giving me a second chance."

"You helped me get through a tough round of solitaire." The Doctor grinned. "It's the least I can do." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Now I'm going to tell you what I told someone else who is very dear to me. Saegusa-san, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me I am not mistaken in mine."

He dropped his hands to his sides. It was time for them to part ways.

Miki nodded in farewell then asked one last question: "Will I ever have a boyfriend—I mean a real boyfriend?"

The Doctor pursed his lips the same way he did last time, weighing what he should tell her. "Why don't you go home and find out for yourself?" He gave her an encouraging smile.

Miki took his response as a good sign. She smiled back then envisioned where she needed to go.

She disappeared from the Doctor's TARDIS and reappeared on Anguirus's island, in her old office, now Meru's office. In fact, Meru was there with her head down on the desk. Her beret and gun belt hung from the coat rack. She looked like a beaten general as the radio set at her elbow broadcasted news of the destruction in Tokyo.

"Meru! What are you doing here?" Miki half-scolded her. "I thought everyone had evacuated."

Meru raised her head, bleary eyed. She blinked. "Miki! I didn't hear you come in. Is anyone else with you?"

"No." Miki pulled Meru out of her chair. "Why didn't you leave with the others?"

"The captain goes down with the sinking ship." Meru could hardly look Miki in the eye. "I fouled everything up. Anguirus and Godzilla Junior are the only ones who can stop those monsters that are wrecking our capitol and they hate us thanks to me."

"Let's see what we can salvage. Where are they now?"

"Anguirus is right outside."

Miki went to the window. Anguirus was asleep in the middle of the demolished base, clinging to the maser tank as his personal chew toy. His teeth were clamped down on the maser cannon.

"What about Godzilla Junior?"

"He wanders on and off the island. I think he's been making trips to Lagos, but I haven't had a chance to read his thoughts. He keeps avoiding me. Can't blame him. I'd avoid me, too, if I could." Meru forced herself to look at Miki. She bit her lip. It was confession time. "I thought you were too soft for this job. Now that I've sat at the helm I realize how tough you had to be to put up with the rest of us. It's a lot harder to command and still be everyone's friend than it is to just command." A tear streaked down her cheek.

"Pull yourself together!" Miki gripped Meru by the arms. "You did what you thought had to be done, which is a lot more than what I can say for myself. Do you want to know what I was really doing when I resigned? I was running away. That's something you'd never do. Don't start now! I have a city to save and I can't do it without you." She took the G-Force beret off the coat hook and offered it to Meru.

Meru didn't take it. She didn't feel worthy.

Miki gently place it atop her head as a gesture to let her know that, yes, she was still worthy.

Meru touched the beret. It was as if she were getting in touch with her old self. She smiled and nodded. It was a faint, injured smile, but she was willing to get back into the saddle.

Miki gave her an encouraging smile in return. "Let's go. And bring your gun!"

Meru strapped on her sidearm as they left the office.

"Did anyone take my room after I left?" Miki asked.

"No. No one wanted it, you know, in case you came back."

"Really?" Hope sprung within Miki. She ran back to the room. It was bare except for a few scraps of paper and the waste basket, which hadn't been emptied. She rifled through the contents until she found the crumpled Queen of Hearts.

"What are you doing?" Meru asked.

"Reclaiming my birth right." Miki smoothed the card and put it in her purse.

They went to the roof of the administration building.

"Call Godzilla Junior," Miki instructed Meru.

Meru became sheepish. "After the way I've treated him I feel embarrassed."

"Would you rather talk to that big lug?" Miki jutted her thumb at the sleeping ankylosaur.

Meru agreed to contact Junior while Miki tried to rouse Anguirus. She folded her hands and concentrated. _Anguirus, this Miki. Remember me?_

Anguirus opened one disgruntled eye and glared at her.

_Yes, you don't want to be bothered. But we need your help. _

Anguirus pinched his eyes tight, trying to shut her out of his head.

Miki persisted. _All right. You're angry with us humans. But you got your revenge, didn't you? You smashed the base, scared everyone away and now you have the island all to yourself._

A growl rumbled in Anguirus's throat. He obviously didn't scare EVERYONE away if she was still here pestering him.

_I know you don't like me anymore than anyone else but we always have been able to talk._

Anguirus exhaled a raspy sigh and looked at her. He let it be known in his thoughts that first of all he did not like being called "Anguirus."

_OK, how about… 'Angilas'? You like the sound of that better?_

Anguirus snorted dismissively. No, he didn't like "Angilas" either.

Miki sighed. How was she going to placate this beast? Then she remembered the name Aoki wanted to give him. _How about 'Gigantis, Destroyer of the Living'?_

Anguirus rose up on his haunches. He liked that.

Before Miki could capitalize on this first spark of good will, Godzilla Junior came lumbering toward the wrecked base, cautiously.

"Good work, Meru!" Miki said. "Does he understand what we need him for?"

"Yes," Meru nodded. "He's still leery of me. I apologized, but he's still worried I might snap at him." She shrugged. "At least he came. How are you doing with Anguirus?"

"Terrible. All of Japan will be destroyed by the time I can get him to cooperate. We'll have to drag him along whether he likes it or not."

"Drag him along? How?"

"The same way I got here." Miki telepathically asked Junior to pick them up.

The giant bent down so the two psychics could hop into his lowered palm. Miki next asked Meru to put one hand on the time ring and the other on Junior's palm then she had Junior grab Anguirus's tail with his free hand. He did so to Anguirus's chagrin but before the anklyosaur could pull away all four of them vanished from the island.

#

G-Force had been perfecting maser technology and constructed giant machines like Mechagodzilla and Mogera for use against kaiju. These same weapons could harm the Cybermen. This was why they began their invasion in Tokyo. Once G-Force was in their hands, no human army on Earth could oppose them.

Destroying G-Force's facilities from orbit was an option but it would be a waste of skilled humans—military leaders, administrators, engineers, and scientists. These individuals would make useful additions to the Cyber race.

Director Segawa and General Aso deployed every last asset in the G-Force arsenal against Gigan and Ghidorah, which was what the Cybermen wanted. They teleported down from their ships and seized the empty hangars and garages. Assault rifles, machines guns, even grenades were useless against them.

The techs in the command center issued reports: "The 33rd Maser Fighter base in the Chiyoda ward is under attack." "The 4th Armored Group base—under attack." "We just lost contact with the base commander of the Third Rocket Support battalion!"

"Under attack?" The reports overwhelmed Segawa. "By whom?"

"Director," another tech spoke up, "there's gunfire in the building!"

General Aso barked, "Put a security camera feed up on the main screen!"

The screen switched from G-Force's struggle against Gigan and Ghidorah to a hall on the ground floor. Soldier's fought a retreating battle as they dropped one by one from jolts of electricity. As they retreated from sight the Cybermen stepped into view.

Segawa was aghast. "Your hunch has been vindicated, General."

"Intruders are being sighted on multiple floors," a tech announced. "The Security Chief has ordered the building to be evacuated at once!"

Gunfire erupted outside the command center only to fall silent after a few shots. The primary door opened and the Cybermen marched into the room. Security men within the center drew their side arms. The techs jumped up from their seats, yanking off their headsets. The Cybermen raised their hands, lancing electric arcs from their fingers. Screams rang out.

Aso pulled Segawa out of his seat amidst the electric shocks and dragged him out the side door. Gunshots echoed throughout the halls.

"I don't appreciate you forcing me to run," Segawa reproached his general.

"We can't afford to lose command and control," Aso shot back. "Like it or not I'm getting you out of here." He elbowed the elevator button.

The elevator dinged open and they took the lift to the roof. They headed for the emergency chopper only to find the Cybermen there, waiting. The pilot lay on the helio pad, unconscious.

"Now what?" asked Segawa.

"Back inside. Find a radio. Contact Super X-3 for a pickup. It's the only aircraft sturdy enough to get us out of here."

Segawa and Aso headed back to the lift only to find a second Cyber squad had cut off their escape. The two groups of Cybermen closed in, backing them up to the edge of the roof.

"Well," Segawa looked at Aso earnestly, "if we're taken prisoner and they interrogate us, do you think you can hold up to torture?"

Aso frowned at the suggestion that they would be taken alive.

They both looked over the edge then at each other to see if they had the nerve to jump.

The Cybermen came within range to fire their electric discharge.

"It's now or never," Segawa said.

"Now." Aso turned to jump.

Then Miki's voice called out from the sky: "Stop!"

Godzilla Junior's hand dropped onto the roof between the two G-Force leaders and the Cybermen. Miki and Meru slid down his arm and confronted the Cybermen.

"I speak on behalf of the people of Earth," Miki said, "tell your leaders to cease hostilities and leave us in peace. I will not ask a second time."

Godzilla Junior roared in support and flashed his fins in warning.

Undeterred, the lead Cyberman said, "You misunderstand our intentions. We did not come to destroy you. We came to bring you eternal life."

The Cybermen raised their hands to fire.

Miki shot her hand forward and sent them hurling back with a burst of telekinetic energy. They tumbled to the far end of the roof.

"Whoa!" Meru exclaimed.

"Well done," Segawa gave Miki a fatherly smile.

Miki rubbed her temples to ease the strain. "Ouch," she muttered softly. "That hurt."

"You know what those creatures are?" General Aso pointed at the fallen aliens.

"They're Cybermen," Miki explained. "Think of them as body snatchers. They came to turn us into machines like them." She clamped the time ring onto Segawa's arm. "Meru and I will deal with the invaders. You go to my apartment and fetch my ear rings with the Mothra emblem." She gave him her key and her address. "You know where the street is?"

"Yes, but what is this thing?" Segawa examined the time ring in bewilderment.

"It will get you to my apartment. All you have to do is recall the street. This ring will do the rest. Don't worry, it's safe! It brought Meru and me across the Pacific. It'll get you across town. General," Miki beckoned Aso to come over to them. "Go with the Director."

General Aso frowned at her. "You sure you want us digging through your personal stuff?"

Miki took a firm tone. "This is not the time to be squeamish about touching a woman's things. I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important."

General Aso cringed, but acquiesced with a nod.

Meru nudged Miki. "The Cybermen are getting back up."

"Hurry!" Miki urged Segawa and Aso.

The two men looked upon her with concern. "What about you?" Segawa asked.

"Those metal monsters are running amok through the whole building," Aso added. "Guns are useless."

"Don't worry," Miki tapped her temple as a reminder she and Meru would be using their ESP.

They looked to Meru.

Meru assured them with a nod she had Miki's back.

Not to be outdone by the younger generation, Segawa and Aso nodded. They would do their part, as awkward as it may seem.

Miki put the general's hand on the ring. "All right, Director," she said to Segawa, "think of my street."

Director Segawa closed his eyes and concentrated. In a flash he and the general vanished.

Miki and Meru faced the Cybermen and clasped hands to combine their ESP. "We'll push them off the roof, together," Miki said.

But Junior acted first. He smashed the alien cyborgs. The whole building shook from the impact of his giant paw. Miki and Meru grabbed hold of each other for balance.

Junior looked down at the young psychics for approval, which they gave with their smiles. A paw-smash works just as well as a telekinetic punch.

Their first skirmish won, they turned their attention to Gigan and Ghidorah. However, there was one problem. Anguirus had wandered off.

The crisis on the rooftop didn't concern him. While everyone else focused on the Cybermen, he went exploring through the evacuated streets. The smell of brick, mortar, and machine exhaust told him he was in human habitat. He snorted in disgust. The ankylosaur longed for the earthy scents of sunbaked sand and the sweetness of palm leaves.

He searched for a way out of the city and found the familiar shapes of maser tanks protruding through the rubble. Memories of the maser tank zapping him on the island enraged Anguirus. He shook one of the tanks in his jaws.

"There he is!" Meru spotted the dust he was kicking up.

Gigan also spotted the dust and flew over to investigate. Anguirus possessively clutched the tank in his forepaws when he saw the kaiju cyborg land down the street. Gigan scanned him, confirmed his identity as one of the Earth creatures the Cybermen had warned him about. The ankylosaur's spikes and muscle mass impressed Gigan, but his low intelligence assured the cyborg killing Anguirus would not only be easy, but good sport.

Miki called out to Godzilla Junior. "Help him!"

Godzilla Junior acknowledged her with a roar and thundered down the street, coming to Anguirus's aid.

Gigan called out to Ghidorah and pointed his hooked hand at Junior.

"This is it," Meru said. "Any bets on whose team will win?"

Gigan brought his hook down like an axe. Anguirus bounded off to the side as the hook swooshed down and slammed into the rubble. The impact struck with the force of an artillery shell. Debris sprayed in all directions. A gray cloud of dust fogged the street.

Anguirus ducked behind a damaged skyscraper and jumped back out to startle Gigan with a piping roar.

Amused, Gigan roared back.

Anguirus tried again, ducked from sight then jumped out from the other side of the building, roaring. Seeing it didn't work, he figured a third attempt should wear down his opponent's nerve.

Gigan sliced Anguirus's cover. The top half of the skyscraper let out a scream of twisting beams and shattering windows.

Anguirus hopped away from the avalanche of glass, mortar, and steel.

"Fight him!" Meru shouted to Anguirus.

"He's an herbivore," Miki said. "His first instinct is to frighten an attacker not kill and eat it."

"I realize that, but he's a dinosaur. Dinosaurs will fight regardless."

"Let's face it, Meru, we've pitted recruits against seasoned warriors."

Godzilla Junior got within two blocks of the melee when Ghidorah swooped toward him. Junior roared at the golden dragon to keep back. Ghidorah replied with a flurry of energy beams. Junior wailed under the onslaught. Ghidorah followed up the energy beam blasts with a double kick, knocking Junior atop a shopping center.

Junior struggled to get back up but Ghidorah landed on top of him, digging in his talons and spraying energy beams. In between bursts, Ghidorah chirped in delight at the sound of Junior's wails.

Super X-3 then swept into view and flew toward the roof. Its VTOL rockets held it steady at the edge. The side hatch opened and Aoki called out to the girls from within the craft. "Come on! We'll get you out of here!"

Seeing Aoki again filled Miki with joy, but: "Don't worry about us! Help Junior and Anguirus!"

Aoki looked chagrined but he could tell Miki and Meru were adamant. "All right!" He gave a brisk salute and closed the hatch. The Super X-3 veered around and strafed Ghidorah.

Gigan roared at his golden protégé to ignore the armored aircraft. He would deal with it. As Aoki brought the Super X-3 around for another pass his copilot alerted him to the oncoming cyborg.

"Fly between Ghidorah's heads," Aoki said.

Gigan tracked the plane and fired the laser mounted in his visor just as the Super X-3 darted between Ghidorah's flailing heads. The stinging beam struck the space dragon. He let out a ringing chirp in surprise and his grip loosened enough for Junior to fling him off.

Wasting no time, Godzilla Junior got back onto his feet. He saw this fight as a chance to accomplish what he failed to do on the island, win Anguirus's friendship. Brewing up his atomic energy, he slammed Gigan in the chest with his heat ray.

Gigan yelped and staggered back from the blast.

With the attention on Junior, Anguirus saw this as an opportunity to leave. This scuffle had nothing to do with him.

"Wait!" Miki called. She contacted Anguirus via telepathy. _You mustn't turn your back on Junior. He needs you!_

Anguirus didn't need Junior, so he didn't see any reason to care.

Meru shook Miki to get her attention. "We've got more Cybermen coming!"

Miki weighed staying on the roof versus running. This time the Cybermen fanned out. She and Meru could focus repulse a few at a time which would give other Cybermen a chance to retaliate. "We need to get some place where I can communicate with Anguirus."

They took a service hatch down to the maintenance store room. From there they ran toward a conference room with windows facing the battle only to be cut off by a Cyberman in the corridor. Miki knocked him off his feet with a telekinetic push.

"Shoving these guys is giving me a headache," she said. "They're too strong and heavy."

Meru extended her palm toward the Cyberman and searched for a weakness with her ESP. "I'll find an easier way," she intoned softly as she concentrated, "right…there!" She clenched her hand. The Cyberman got back onto his feet then clutched his head. Sparks spat out from the eye holes and mouth and the Cyberman collapsed. This time it was dead.

"The brain is organic," Meru explained, "just give it a good telekinetic squish."

"Ew!" Miki winced.

Meru rolled her eyes. "All right. I'll hold them off while you talk some sense into Anguirus."

They went into the conference room.

Godzilla Junior was fending off both Gigan and Ghidorah. Anguirus paused to look back at the unfair fight. He seemed to reconsider but turned away and kept walking.

Miki folded her hands in concentration. _Anguirus,_ _one day you may need him. Help him and he will help you._

Anguirus sensed she was talking about friendship. He didn't want any friends. He wanted to be by himself on his island.

The Cybermen stormed the conference room, coming in through both doors. Meru crushed the brain of the first Cyberman and the one following him. They collapsed with a gurgle sputtering from their mouth slits. The others entering from the second door closed in on her. ESP worked fine so long as there was time to use it.

Meru rammed the conference table into them then pulled Miki away from the window and shielded her with her body as she drew her gun and shot out the glass. The only way out of the room was to walk along the ledge.

Miki went out first. Meru followed. When a Cyberman poked its head out of the window to discharge an electric bolt, Meru crushed its brain. She now had them at a choke point. Only one could come after them at a time.

"I don't like this!" Miki cried. She pressed her back against the wall. Even with her heels pushed all the way back, her toes extended beyond the width of the ledge. All it took was a slight forward shift of her weight and over she went, down to the hard ground below.

Meru gripped her hand. "We'll get to the next room one step at a time. OK? Take one step."

Miki took one step toward the next window.

Meru did the same.

Then Godzilla Junior flipped Gigan over his shoulder. The ground shook. Miki drew in her breath as the building shuddered. To get even, Ghidorah pummeled Junior to the ground, shaking the building further.

"I'm going to fall!"

"I won't let you," Meru tightened her grip on Miki's hand.

"I'll only pull you down with me!"

"You won't!" Meru knew she would but there were times when you had to dig your heels in against reality.

Then of all things happened: Miki's cell phone rang. She and Meru looked down at her purse then at each other in disbelief.

Meru let go of Miki so she could answer it.

"H-hello?" Miki's voice stammered.

"This is Segawa. Aso and I searched your whole apartment and we can't find your earrings."

"Oh, no! I forgot! I hadn't unpacked them. They'll be in my storage locker downstairs."

Segawa groaned over the phone. "We just ran up eleven flights of stairs. Now we have to run back down?"

"I'm out on a ledge fifteen stories above the cement parking lot. What are you complaining about?"

"You're out on the ledge? You get back inside right now!" Segawa scolded.

"I'm working on it, Director. Goodbye." Miki put her phone away.

"Don't worry," Meru said. "Someday we'll look back on this and laugh."

Godzilla Junior sensed Miki's fright. He stiffened his tail and swung full circle, barreling over Gigan and Ghidorah, and hurried toward G-Force HQ. The closer he got the more the building shuddered from his footfalls.

_Stay back! _Miki telepathically pleaded. _We'll fall!_

Junior became all the more determined to reach her in case she did fall.

Gigan got up and shot him in the back. He staggered forward, growling. His forehead came close enough for Miki and Meru to count his craggy scales. He swung around. His dorsal fins whipped past them, fanning them with a gust of wind. He brewed up to fire his atomic ray and fired back. His fins flashed like strobe lights in their eyes.

"He's going to get us killed before he rescues us," Meru said.

"We'll have to override his will," Miki grabbed Meru's hand, "together—concentrate!"

Junior sensed the girls trying to direct his actions. This time he resisted. He just got Miki back and Meru was trying to be friendly toward him. Azusa's whereabouts were unknown. So the only caregivers he had left were these two and he wasn't going to risk losing them.

Gigan blocked Junior's ray with his crossed hooks. The beam left the hooks steaming white hot, but Gigan was otherwise unharmed. The cyborg observed the curious battle of wills between the mutated godzillasaur and the two humans it was trying to protect. His scan showed the beast had been subjected to an unusually rapid growth spurt. Physically, the Earth creature possessed the might of an adult while psychologically it was still a child. The Cybermen worried too much. These Earth creatures were weak. Gigan pointed at Godzilla Junior and let out an electric shriek. _Destroy him!_

Ghidorah complied, unleashing energy beams.

Godzilla Junior roared, letting it be known he will win the battle of wills with his friends and withstand the maelstrom of Ghidorah's power. He smashed his fist into the wall several floors below Miki and Meru, causing them to fall into his other hand. He cupped them inside his hands around them then backed up toward a skyscraper. Checking his target with his peripheral vision, he struck the skyscraper with his tail. It fell into the high rise across the street, which fell into the next high rise, creating a domino effect until the final building smashed into Ghidorah. The gilded dragon plopped onto its back, kicking its feet and flailing its three heads.

Peeved, Gigan stomped forward as Junior spun around and fired his atomic ray. Gigan blocked the shot then closed the distance. He delivered a crushing blow after blow to Godzilla Junior's head. With his hands cupped, protecting the girls, he couldn't strike back. He tried swinging his tail, but Gigan, expecting the maneuver, braced himself and caught Junior's swinging tail. Hanging onto Junior's tail with one arm, Gigan hammered Junior with his free hook. Junior dropped to one knee. His thick hide split open. The next blow splashed with blood.

Gigan roared, _Die you whelp! Die!_

Junior growled in defiance. Even though his spirit was willing his flesh was weakening. Blood seeped into his eyes and dribbled down his snout. Consciousness teetered on the edge of oblivion.

Gigan roared again, this time in pain.

Godzilla Junior felt the grip on his tail loosen. He staggered away from Gigan and into G-Force HQ, bringing down half the building. Blood sprayed against the windows of the nearby structures—those which were still standing—as Junior swung his head to clear his vision. To his surprise he saw Anguirus chomping on Gigan's tail.

He must've done it! He finally proved himself worthy of Anguirus's friendship. Godzilla Junior roared with renewed strength.

The Super X-3 swooped in close to Junior. Understanding this was his chance to get the girls to safety, he extended his palm toward the plane. Miki and Meru looked frazzled.

Aoki called out from the open hatch. "Now are you ready to get out of here?"

Miki and Meru replied in unison: "Yes!"

As soon as they hopped aboard the craft, Aoki ordered the crew to pull the plane clear of the combat zone.

The Cyber task force commanders did not like the turn of events. With the Earth monsters united against theirs, victory would be in doubt.

"Withdraw our forces from the surface," the task force leader ordered. "We will resume operations once Gigan destroys Anguirus and the second Godzilla."

Miki made her way to the cockpit window aboard the Super X. "Anguirus has joined the fight!"

"So should we," Meru suggested.

"I'm afraid not," Aoki shook his head. "You two will get thrown around the compartment. We can't have that. It's going to be up to Junior and Anguirus."

"Gigantis," Miki corrected. "That's the name he prefers."

Aoki grinned, gratified to hear his suggested moniker for the giant ankylosaur was a hit.

Anguirus pulled Gigan clear of Junior, not realizing he was backing up into Ghidorah.

Junior roared in warning for his partner to watch his back.

Ghidorah managed to get up off the ground. To help his master, he unleashed a volley of beams at Anguirus who in return raked the space dragon's ankle with his tail spikes. Ghidorah hopped on his one good foot.

Gigan raised his right hook to strike.

Anguirus spotted what he was about to do out of the corner of his eye. He spun around and charged like a rhino with his nose horn forward. He rammed into Gigan and flipped him on top of Ghidorah.

Junior joined Anguirus's side. In grunts he expressed his gratitude for the help.

Anguirus snapped at him, not wanting Junior to get too comfortable with him. He was only helping because he didn't like seeing a youngster get stuck in an unfair fight.

The two space monsters got back on their feet.

All four kaiju sized each other up.

Anguirus grunted to Junior this would have to be quick. Gigan had inflicted a severe wound to Junior's head. As the blood drained, so did one's strength.

Gigan touched Ghidorah's wing to get his attention and gestured toward Junior. Combining their firepower should finish off the injured animal. Then they could drive away the quadruped with ease.

Anguirus growled, wanting Junior to give him cover fire. He would do the rest.

Gigan signaled Ghidorah with a shriek: _Attack!_

Ghidorah obeyed but before Gigan joined him a voice spoke into his head. _I realize you're powerful but you may want to look behind you. Just saying!_

His sensors registered nothing but he felt his suspicions aroused. A vision of a dark mass looming behind him filled his imagination. Gigan spun around, brandishing his hooks. Nothing was there but now someone was behind him—Anguirus.

Ghidorah and Godzilla Junior exchanged fire while Anguirus charged underneath their beams and leapt atop Gigan. He brought his weight down upon the cyborg's head as they fell. Gigan's neck snapped with a loud pop. The cyborg's body twitched then went still.

Aboard the Super X, Miki clapped. "We did it!"

"He fell for the oldest trick in the book," Meru said.

They slapped their palms together in a high-five.

Enraged, Ghidorah flapped about Anguirus, lashing his talons and energy beams then at Junior. He wanted them to get away from Gigan. Understanding the dragon's grief, Anguirus grunted at Junior to step away from the body.

Once they stood well back, Ghidorah grasped his fallen master and flew up into the sky.

Director Segawa and General Aso materialized back on the roof of G-Force headquarters. From what they could see they were late to the party.

The Super X-3 swung around and dropped off Miki and Meru.

"Did you find my earrings?"

Director Segawa handed Miki the small case.

Miki opened it, revealing the earrings bearing Mothra's emblem. "Now we deal with the Cybermen." She handed one earring to Meru.

"Are we going to summon Mothra?" Meru asked.

"Mothra is too far out into space. But there is another we can call. Follow my lead."

The two young women clutched the earrings like talismans. "Turn your mind's eye to the ocean floor," Miki instructed Meru. "The earring will guide you to Mothra's seal. Do you see it?"

Meru's brow furrowed in deeper concentration. "I see it. It's in the form of an energy field down in the depths of the sea."

"That's it. Now together—break it!"

The earrings in their hands glowed like candle flames.

Up in orbit, the Cybermen were contacted by Gigan's creators. A human-sized cockroach stood before the Cyber task force leader in hologram form.

"How goes the operation?" the alien cockroach asked.

"Your cyborg has been destroyed," the task force leader replied.

"Destroyed?" the alien squeaked. "Gigan is our most powerful weapon! We left him in your care. What are you going to do to replace him?"

"Nothing."

"You will pay for this!" The cockroach shivered with rage.

"Are you declaring war on the Cyber race?" the task force leader inquired.

"No! I mean literally. Gigan is an expensive piece of equipment."

"The Cyber race does not use money. The fact you do is your problem. We will continue with Phase 2 shortly."

"Continue?" The cockroach didn't see how they could without Gigan.

The task force leader explained. "This solar system is inhabited by a species called Ghidorah. They are in an embryonic state within the debris drifting on the outer periphery of the system. We'll use these creatures to continue the work your Gigan failed to do. After we harvest Earth's population, you are still welcome to colonize the planet."

The cockroach sniffed. "How gracious. What are we supposed to do with a planet infested by space monsters?"

"Again," the task force leader stated flatly, "that is your problem."

"Leader," a subordinate called out from its post, "a creature has emerged from the ocean and is flying toward our ships."

The leader turned toward the viewer. "Show me."

A winged creature with crimson eyes appeared on the screen. A sub screen rifled through images of Earth's monsters until it found a matching picture. The computer identified the beast: "A black Mothra, aka Battra."

Alarms sounded throughout the ship.

"Raise shields," the leader ordered. "Open fire."

The Cyber ships' laser cannons only fueled Battra's wrath. He latched onto the command ship, ripped open the hull, and unleashed his own energy beams inside the craft. The main drive detonated, engulfing the neighboring ships in the explosion.

From the roof of G-Force HQ, down on the Earth's surface, Miki and her friends witnessed a flash of light in the night sky. Shortly, Battra returned with a piece of wreckage in his mandibles as proof that he had completed his task. He dropped the wreckage at the foot of the building and flew back up toward the stars.

"The Cybermen have been destroyed," Miki said, "and Battra is off to find Mothra."

Director Segawa exhaled in relief now that the crisis is over. He removed the time ring from his wrist. "Where did you get this?"

Miki took the ring. "From my guardian angel."

"Is that your way of saying you won't tell me?"

"It's my way of saying it's too complicated to explain."

"Hmm." Segawa sounded doubtful if her answer would do. He let the matter stand as is. "In any case, the Dinosaur Research Team proved its value. Miki, would you reconsider resuming your post as head of the team?"

Miki flushed with emotion. "I would but Meru is already the team leader."

"Ah yes." Segawa turned to Aso. "General, if you will?"

"Of course." General Aso cleared his throat and turned to Meru. "Ms. Ozawa."

Meru snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!"

"You're fired!"

"Thank you, sir!" Meru saluted.

Miki didn't think that was fair.

"Don't get weepy on us," Meru chided. "I'm not cut out for command. You are. About all I'm good for is backup, so if you're looking for an assistant…well, I'm available if you want one."

Miki clasped Meru's hands. "I would be honored."

"So," Segawa pressed the issue. "Will you withdraw your resignation?"

Miki asked herself, did she want her old job back? This time she followed the Doctor's advice. She followed her heart. "Yes, director. Thank you." She bowed in thanks.

**Epilog**

Azusa was aboard the supply ship during the fighting in Tokyo. She and the rest of the personnel from Anguirus's island heard the news over the radio. What a sad day. They had to evacuate the island before Anguirus could trample them. Now Tokyo was in flames. Worrying about what happened to Aoki, Professor Omae, and Miki was driving her crazy.

Then one morning the radio broadcasted good news. The two alien monsters have been driven away by Anguirus and Godzilla Junior. The Dinosaur Research Team has been reformed with Miki back as team leader.

"Huh?" Azusa didn't understand. "How did our dinosaurs get to Tokyo ahead of us? They can't fly."

Then a ship crewman ran down the hall, passed her cabin yelling, "Kaiju off the port bow!"

Azusa ran to the deck. Out at sea she saw Junior and Anguirus swimming by the ship. "I don't believe it! Baby!" She waved to get Junior's attention.

Junior heard his adoptive mother. Her voice was faint, but it was enough to get his attention. He roared back and swam toward the ship.

Anguirus let out a scolding roar to leave the ship be.

The waves Junior caused bucked the ship. Azusa gripped the railing to keep from being thrown overboard. "Careful, Baby!"

"If you can communicate with it," a crewman said, "make it go away!"

Junior grabbed the ship so it wouldn't tip.

Monster and human lovingly stared at each other.

"Oh, Baby, I'm so happy to see you again." Azusa circled the crown of her head. "I see you got a head wound from your fight. You feel all right?"

Godzilla Junior roared gently, as if to say he was fine. He then muscled the ship around so the prow pointed toward the Marshall Islands and pushed.

The crew ran about the decks in a panic. The captain came out from the bridge and called down, "What's he doing?"

"Looks like we're going back to the island," Azusa called back up, not a bit worried.

Anguirus roared at Godzilla Junior to leave the boat alone.

Of course Junior didn't listen. He kept pushing his prize forward.

Anguirus grunted. _Fine. Take that thing to Lagos, you hear? Take it to your island, not mine!_

**The End**


End file.
